Working for the Hitachiins
by starry night blue
Summary: COMPLETE - Haruhi has signed up to work as a personal maid for the Hitachiin twins. Little does she know that they were going to make life hell for her...
1. Chapter 1

**D/C: I don't own Ouran High School Host Club...although I'd settle for one of the twins.**

**Hello!! Well, this is my first stab at writing for Ouran...I've downloaded and watched the episodes in one week, and I'm an avid fan! I particularly love the twins, and that's why my first fic features them. Well, anyway, I'll stop chattering aimlessly and leave you to read. Enjoy!!**

**Working for the Hitachiins**

**Chapter 1:**

"_Ohayo gozaimasu_..."

Even though it gave her a sense of deep foreboding to walk into the room of the two young sirs the servants have told her so much about, Fujioka Haruhi was obliged to do this...especially since she'd been assigned to be their personal maid.

When Haruhi had accepted the job of a maid at the Hitachiin manor, she had no idea she was going to end up a "possible" toy for two guys who were famous for their bad attitude, and their belief that they were on top of the world. But when the father, Hitachiin-san had confessed that no one else would take the job, and that he'd pay her twice as much if she took it, she finally agreed...especially since would certainly help her save money for the university fees which she had no other way of securing.

"Um, excuse me?" she said, awkwardly, looking into the darkness of the spacious room. _Damn rich bastards; this room is twice as large as my house. _The curtains were drawn, and she wasn't able to see where her masters' beds were located. She walked further into the room. "Hitachiin-sama? And...Hitachiin-sama?"

"Ehhh? Who are you?"

"Where's Lenalee?"

The room was suddenly flooded in light, and Haruhi slowly looked around. There, on the single King-sized bed, lay her bosses. Two identical twins with wild, reddish-brown hair and honey-colored eyes. They were propped up against the pillows, bare-chested, with their arms around each other. Haruhi felt a blush creep up her cheeks; was it proper for two brothers to share the same bed?

_Here goes nothing. _She bowed quickly. "_Gomen-nasai,_" she murmured, before looking up at them. "I'm Fujioka Haruhi; I'm your new maid starting today."

There was a brief moment where both the twins just watched her openly, and Haruhi felt oddly exposed. Their eyes were cold and rather creepy, and it made her feel kind of insecure. She wished she could turn and leave the room, but knew that that would undoubtedly get her fired.

_I wish they'd stop staring at me like a poodle in a dog contest. _"Um...if you'll want to get up, breakfast is..." she started, as an attempt to break the silence.

"I don't recall allowing you to speak," one of the twins interrupted her, and she nodded and bowed again.

Then, that same Hitachiin twin swung his legs off the bed and made his way towards her, while the other just plopped forward on his stomach, arms folded before him, watching as if some kind of interesting show. Haruhi had to stop herself from trembling nervously as the boy circled her, studying her from all angles. Occasionally, he touched her short brown hair or trailed a finger down the skin of her arm, but he said nothing. Finally, he left her side and sat down on the edge of the bed, watching her keenly.

"What do you think, Kaoru?" he asked.

The boy named Kaoru rolled over on his back. "I don't know," he said in a bored tone. "Lenalee was much prettier."

"Yeah, wasn't she?" the other, Hikaru agreed.

_What the hell? _Haruhi felt her cheeks flush with indignation. "I'm sorry, but if I may say this, looks have got nothing to do with the way I perform my job," she said quietly...although there was a definite edge to her voice.

A brief look of surprise passed over the twins' face, but then they both smirked simultaneously.

"Well, this is interesting, we've..." Hikaru remarked.

"...never had a maid who spoke her opinions," Kaoru added.

"We could keep her..."

"...but we could also fire her for that."

"What do you think, Ha-ru-hi?"

They both uttered their last question at the same time, and Haruhi was still marveling at how they managed to finish each other's sentences without the slightest pause, and it took her a moment to realize that they've asked her a question. She flushed again. "_G-gomen-nasai,_" she said hurriedly, taking a quick bow. But when she rose up, she gave them a firm look. "I wouldn't want to be fired on the first day of my job, and I would appreciate it if you excused my insolence...but still, that's not for me to decide. It's up to you to make that choice."

"Ohh? That's an interesting answer," Hikaru commented.

Kaoru crawled to his brother's side, and draped his arm around him from the back. He smirked at Haruhi. "What will you be willing to do for us if we keep you?" he asked her.

Haruhi frowned. "Is this a trick question?" she asked him.

Kaoru just smiled. "You decide what it is," he replied.

Haruhi pondered over this for a moment. "Well, I'll do anything to please my masters, as long as it doesn't clash with my ethics or my values," she said carefully. "Then, I'd walk out of here on my own."

"Does singing clash with your ethics and values?" Hikaru asked promptly.

Haruhi blinked; she certainly hadn't seen that coming. "Excuse me?" she said.

Hikaru pulled out what she recognized as an iPod from his pocket and dangled it in front of her. "I just found that my player's out of batteries, and Kaoru won't lend me his," he told her. "But I've wanted to hear some music this morning, and now I can't..."

_Eh? _Haruhi was bewildered; why was he telling her that now? "I...I don't understand," she said.

"He wants you to sing for him, silly," Kaoru said, irritably. "Can you sing for him?"

Haruhi took a step backwards and raised her hands up defensively in front of her. "I'd rather not sing, Hitachiin-sama..." she started.

"Why? Is it against your ethics?" Hikaru sneered.

"No! It's just that I don't possess a good singing voice!" she said defensively.

"We don't care," the twins intoned. "We want you to sing. Do it. Now. Or we'll fire you."

_Damn rich bastards. _She cleared her throat, and opened her mouth...only to have the most horrible singing voice roll off her tongue, and the twins burst out laughing, clutching their stomachs and rolling about on the bed. _I hate this job._

* * *

**A/N: Done!! I know it was kinda short, but this is just the first chapter. I promise to make the next chapters longer. But, anyway, that aside, what did you think of the story? The idea's pretty interesting, isn't it? Well, I'm waiting for your reviews, so don't hold them back, okie?**

**Ja ne!**

_- S. N. B._


	2. Chapter 2

**D/C: I don't own Ouran High School Host Club.**

**Hello!! Wow, I got 13 reviews? And non-flames at that! I was really so surprised!! Thank you so much; those reviews made me really happy!! But, since I know that you probably don't want to hang around listening to how excessively obsessed I am about my reviews, I'll leave you to read the second chapter! **

**Enjoy!!**

**Working for the Hitachiins**

**Chapter 2:**

After finally getting them to stop fooling around long enough to convince them to go down to the dining room for breakfast, Haruhi had the room of the Hitachiin twins for herself. Sighing wearily, she walked over to the large bed, and started arranging the sheets. Her hands ran over the silk fabric of the sheets, and she mumbled something under her breath about pampered, rich bastards.

As she moved around the bed to the other side, she noticed the photo frames which were scattered around on the bedside cabinet. She bent down to have a good look at them. In the middle of the fancy-looking frames, pictures of the twins looked up at her. Twins smiling, twins with their arms around each other, twins laughing, young twins...all of them for the twins. There wasn't a single picture of their mother or father...let alone any pictures of their friends.

_They weren't kidding when they told me that those two live in their own world._

Haruhi couldn't understand how one can be able to shut off everyone from his life. Okay, maybe they were two, but that still didn't make a difference. She knew she wasn't really one to talk, since she didn't have that many friends, but she never pushed anyone away. Especially not her parents.

Heaving a sigh, she continued arranging the bed, and did a bit of dusting around the room. When she was done, she decided to take the chance and wander a bit around the room before the twins returned. Of course, the first thing she noticed was the elephants. There were two of them in the room, complete with white and blue marbles, with a few gemstones on it. She wondered vaguely why the twins would have elephants in their room. Of course, everything else was an upgraded version of what she saw in the best stores in her neighborhood; the TV, the leather couches...they even had a mini bar!

Furrowing her brow slightly, she moved over to the two desks at the back of the room. She paused as she saw a small fancy-looking trunk there. She frowned; that certainly didn't look like it belonged in a boys' bedroom. Just as she was about to touch it, scuffling footsteps came round the door and the twins' walked in. She quickly withdrew her hand and bowed to them.

"Did you have a good breakfast, Hitachiin-sama, and Hitachiin-sama?" she asked, politely.

They didn't say anything. One of them just walked up to her and placed a hand on the trunk. "Did you open this?" he asked.

Haruhi cringed. "N-no, I didn't," she said...and it was the truth; she hadn't really opened the trunk.

He frowned at her for a moment, and then grinned mischievously. "Ne, Kaoru! I have an idea!" he called to his brother, and Kaoru hurried over to his side, just as Hikaru turned back and smiled at her. "Would you like to know?"

Haruhi didn't like the tone of his voice. Minutes later, she wished she had never even laid eyes on that wretched box.

* * *

Hikaru had to admit; this new maid was a lot more fun than he had expected. He knew that he and Kaoru were humiliating her, but that was just half the fun. The other half was that he knew she was boiling on the inside...he could feel her shaking beneath his hands...and yet she had not lashed out at them. He had made a silent bet with Kaoru to see how much she would be able to restrain herself before finally bursting out.

Hikaru peered into her painted face. "Kaoru, do you think the pink here is overdone?" he asked after a moment.

Kaoru came and examined the spot indicated by his brother. "I don't know..." he said slowly. "Maybe we should rub it off and add a pale shade of pink?"

The trunk which they'd found her touching contained nothing special; it was only the box where their mother kept her cosmetics, and they had borrowed it to do a bit of painting because they were feeling rather bored. It had been amusing to watch Haruhi's expression when they had revealed what was inside the box; it was obvious that cosmetics were the last thing she had expected.

It was all to their benefit, though. If she hadn't touched the trunk, they wouldn't have been applying the cosmetics to her face now. Hikaru and Kaoru prided themselves in being extremely good make-up artists...sometimes their mother asked them to do make-overs for her friends.

"What about the lipstick, then?" he asked, studying the lipstick tubes in the trunk. "I've been leaving it off till the end, but that's because I'm not sure what colour to apply. Should it be pink? I think pink would look good."

Kaoru nodded. "Yes, I believe pink would be pretty good," he agreed.

Hikaru picked out the tube of pink lipstick, and gently placed a hand beneath Haruhi's chin, and lifted her face up towards him, much to her surprise. He smiled at her. "Now, Haruhi, if you'll open your mouth a bit so I can apply the lipstick..." he said.

It all happened so suddenly. Haruhi slapped Hikaru's hand away, and got up to her feet. They both stared, stunned, at her. Where as she, on the other hand, grabbed a wet tissue, and started wiping the make-up off.

"Hey!" Kaoru protested. "You can't just..."

"I can do whatever I want!" she shot back at him. "Just because I am your maid doesn't mean that you can do anything you want with me! And certainly not paint my face! If I'd known that I was signing up to be a toy, I wouldn't have given this job a second look!"

Hikaru blinked. "Wait...you're quitting?" he asked.

"Wasn't that obvious?" she snapped, untying her apron and throwing it down to the floor. "I'm leaving right now, while I still have my dignity!"

"Y-you can't do that!" he replied.

"Watch me!"

With that, she turned on her heels and stormed out of the room. She took care to slam the door shut, loudly, behind her, making the twins jump a bit. They were silent for a few moments, but then Hikaru felt his brother slipping his hand into his, and he squeezed it. He knew what his brother was thinking, and couldn't think of anything comforting to say. He looked around at him, with a weak smile.

"Kaoru..." he started.

"That's another one we've scared off, ne?" his brother said softly.

Hikaru opened his mouth to protest, but closed it when he realized that his brother was right. They had never managed to hold on to a maid for more than two weeks; some of them tried to continue working for the sake of money, but they all ran away in the end. He had to admit that it was mostly their fault...they never gave anyone the chance to get close to them. It was always "us" and "the world outside us".

But it wasn't just their fault. No one outside their narrow circle understood them...not even their own parents. Heck! They couldn't even tell them apart. They just went on with whatever they wanted, but they never bothered to try and understand them.

That Haruhi...she had actually stood up to them...no one had ever done that before...

"Kaoru, is she really allowed to quit like that?" he asked, with sudden inspiration.

* * *

_Stupid. Idiotic. Bastards! Ugh!!_

Fuming, Haruhi stuffed the clothes, which had arranged in her new cupboard, this morning, into her suitcase. She had never been an easy quitter, but those were just too much to handle. If she wanted to save some money for university, she wanted to do it and still maintain her sanity.

She placed the last of her clothes in the suitcase, and walked to the bedside cabinet to pick up her final belonging. She lifted up the photo frame and smiled down at the picture of her mother. She had died years ago, but Haruhi still felt attached to her, and liked to retail all her daily events to her before going to sleep. She was her sole condolence.

"Okasa, I'm sorry...I couldn't keep up with this job," she said softly. She looked around the room. "It's going to be a pity to leave this bedroom, ne? Seeing as I never had a room of my own before..."

Sighing, she placed the frame on top of her clothes, and closed the suit case. She scanned the room again, trying to figure out if there was anything she'd missed, but the place looked bare now, except for the maid uniform, which she had hung on the wall next to the cupboard. She was starting to heave her case off of the bag, when the bedroom's door was suddenly flung open, and there were the twins, grinning at her from the doorway.

"Packed already?" one of them asked her.

Haruhi narrowed her eyes at them. "What do you want from me now?" she demanded. "I've already quit the job; you can go and find some one else to play with."

"Well, as a matter of fact, Haruhi, we have come to talk to you about that," the second one said, smiling.

"You won't talk me out of it, if that's what you're thinking," she muttered.

"We won't need to," said the first one. As she frowned, he pulled out a small rolled up paper from his pocket, and presented it to her. "Why don't you have a look at this?"

Haruhi gingerly accepted the paper, and unfolded it. Her eyes narrowed as she took a brief look at it. "Hey! This is my contract! What were you two doing with my contract?" she said angrily.

"We were reading the fine print, of course," they said in unison.

_Fine print?_

They both stepped up behind her, and each placed a hand on one of her shoulders. One of them leaned down and pointed down to a section of the contract. "Why don't you read this part carefully?" he asked, sounding bemused.

Haruhi looked down at the section. "You must understand, that under no circumstances, you are allowed to break this contract, unless you will have to suffer from unemployment for three years, and a fine of two thousand dollars as well," she read out. "Two thousand dollars!!"

"So...unless you are ready to face unemployment as well as a two thousand dollar fine, I think you're going to have to stick to us," they chorused.

_No!!_

Haruhi sank down miserably to the floor of the room, while the twins exchanged a high five above her.

_I hate this job..._

* * *

**A/N: Sooo? How was this chapter? It was pretty amusing, wasn't it? Now, we know that Haruhi can't escape from the twins' evil clutches!! Heh heh!! Well, anyway, please review, okie? I know that it will make me update faster! (hint, hint)**

_- S. N. B. _


	3. Chapter 3

**D/C: I don't own OHSHC. **

**Hello!! Aren't you glad to see me? (grin) Anyway, before I remove the leash off my tongue, I'd like to thank you all so much for the amazing reviews you've sent me!! I mean, I got 28 reviews since I last updated; I was over-whelmed!! Hmm...now that I've said that, I don't think there's anything left for me to say except...enjoy!!**

**Working for the Hitachiins**

**Chapter 3:**

_Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep!!_

Groaning, Haruhi reached out to shut off her alarm. She fumbled around for a minute before her hand finally found the clock, and she slammed her hand down on it, immediately silencing the bloody thing. Curled up in her warm bed, she wished she didn't have to wake up so early everyday, but the twins had university classes to attend, and she had to wake them up. Although getting up at 5 am in the morning so she could look good for them was just too ridiculous.

It was one of the rules they've set for her while she worked for them. That, along with a list of the silliest rules she'd ever heard of. They had written the rules on a fancy piece of parchment, with a quill, in a flowery handwriting. In short, it appalled her.

They had pinned it to her mirror, so that she'd have to look at it everyday, and she was not allowed to remove it. Even now, as she moved to the mirror to brush back her short hair, she felt her eyes automatically drawn to the list.

_"The Hitachiin twins, Kaoru-sama and Hikaru-sama, would be delighted if you would follow these rules:_

_1. You will call us Hikaru-sama and Kaoru-sama."_

Haruhi didn't know how she was supposed to follow that rule. She had yet to figure out how to differentiate between those two, and the fact that they always dressed the same just to confuse her didn't help at all.

_"2. You will wake up early in the morning to doll yourself up a bit. Make-up would be much appreciated."_

Scowling, Haruhi opened the make-up case the twins had bought for her. Her hand hovered uncertainly over the arrays of lipstick tubes, eye-liners, blushers, and all the other things in there which she had rarely ever used in her life. In the end, she finally landed on a tube of lipstick of the lightest shade of pink, and she carefully started to apply it.

_"3. You will help us with our homework, being the genius you are."_

Haruhi cringed. That was obviously cheating, and she despised cheating, but she was obliged to do what the twins wanted. It was just a stroke of bad luck that she had let them see her while gaping, starry-eyed, at the books in the study downstairs.

_"4. You will cook for us. We'd like to have a taste of the commoners' food."_

_Those rich bastards. _She felt like they were always trying to ridicule her and make fun of her by calling her a commoner, and comparing their lifestyle and her lifestyle. It always got on her nerves, but she managed to keep her anger bottled up. This rule was another reason she had to wake up early; she was supposed to cook break fast for them...commoner-style.

_"5. You will play games with us in the evening."_

Even though she thought it was a bit childish, she could understand why they had put forward this rule. The twins didn't have any friends, from what she could make out, and she assumed that they'd want to do the things normal friends do. She knew she wasn't a friend, but they wanted her to pretend to be.

_"6. You will tuck us in at night and give us a goodnight kiss."_

Now, _that_, Haruhi was finding hard to digest. She hadn't yet come across a situation where she was to carry out that rule, since the twins had come to her room last night, knocked at the door, took out their bottle of ink and quill, and scribbled that rule down. All that, with her standing in her night-gown, watching them blearily. If she had been fully awake, she wouldn't have let them write past the number "6". She was going to try and talk them out of it today, but the little side note written at the bottom of the parchment told her she won't be lucky.

_"Please note that Kaoru-sama and Hikaru-sama will not take down any of those rules once they've been written. Not only would it spoil the fun, but it will be a waste of ink and parchment, as well."_

Haruhi had to restrain herself from tearing that bloody parchment into two.

"Waste of ink and parchment, my ass!" she muttered.

* * *

In another forty minutes, Haruhi was heading up to the second floor to wake up the brats. She had prepared breakfast, and had asked one of the servants to carry the food to the dining room. It was almost 6 a.m. now, and she was running late, since the twins usually left the house by 6 45, and it took them quite a while to get ready before that.

Without bothering to knock at the door, she flung it open and marched in straight to the twins' bed. If she had looked around a bit, she would've noticed that something was missing from the room, but she really didn't have time for that now.

"Kaoru-sama, Hikaru-sama, it's six a.m. now," she said, in a loud and clear voice. "If you don't wake up now, you'll be late for your IT class."

It gave her a sense of bitterness that she had to memorize class schedules, and solve home-works which weren't even for her. Kaoru and Hikaru went to one of the best universities and attended classes, and they didn't even have to work for it! What made her feel more disgruntled is that they didn't even feel grateful for it.

Seeing that they didn't make an attempt to move, Haruhi felt the need to repeat herself, and more loudly this time, "Kaoru-sama! Hikaru-sama! You need to wake up immediately!"

They didn't do so much as budge this time, as well. She frowned; they never took this long to wake up, normally. She wondered, vaguely, what could be wrong this morning. Sighing irritably, she strode over to the windows and pulled the curtains open, before returning to the bed, reaching out and pulling the bed sheets away.

_POP!!_

If Haruhi had been a normal girl, the loud popping noise and the confetti and streamers which had burst from the bed would've scared her out of her wits. But, all she did was just stand there and frown down at the twins and their dejected expressions, and the elephant head resting between one of the twins' legs.

"Aw! Haruhi! You're no fun!" one of them said, pouting.

"Yeah! We thought we'd be able to get you with this!" the other protested. "It always scared the other maids!"

However, Haruhi had soon found a new reason for horror, when she realized that the twin with the elephant was, in fact, naked. She felt her cheeks warming up, and she immediately looked around, away from them. "Hi-Hitachiin-sama, w-would you put on some clothes, please?" she stuttered.

"Wha...? Oh," he replied. He laughed impishly. "I like to sleep leisurely! And no, I won't put on my clothes until you call me by my name! Who am I? Hikaru, or Kaoru? Remember, that's our first rule!!"

_Screw those stupid rules!!_ To try and figure that out, Haruhi knew she would have to look around at the twins and have a good look at them, but then, she didn't want to risk it. She knew she would have to resort to guess-work...and that wasn't going to be easy, either. How the hell was she supposed to tell them apart?

"C'mon, Haruhi; I'm waiting!" he whined.

"Okay, okay! I'm thinking!" she said hurriedly.

"Well, do you want me to stand in front of you so you can have a good look at me, then? I'm sure it would help you think," he told her.

Haruhi thought he was just teasing her, but when she heard the definite rustle of some one moving off of the bed, she panicked, and said the first thing which came to mind, "_Chotto matte, _Hikaru-sama!! You still didn't give me a chance to say anything!"

There was a slight pause, then. No one said anything, and Haruhi finally noticed that she had gone and made her guess. She waited anxiously to hear what the twins were going to say, even though she had this sinking feeling that a naked twin was going to jump in front of her any moment now. The silence was beginning to weigh heavily on her now, and she wondered if she had said something which upset them.

"Kaoru, hand me over those pants," one of them said, quietly.

Haruhi couldn't believe her ears; she had actually made the right guess? She could hear the faint sound of some one getting dressed, and then the sound of a zipper being zipped. Only then did she feel it was safe to look around without getting traumatized. Hikaru was now sitting on the edge of the bed, looking up intently at her, while Kaoru just leaned back against one of the pillows, hugging his knees to his chest.

"_G-gomen-nasai,_" she said quietly. "Did I say something wrong?"

Hikaru cocked his head to one side while continuing to watch her, as if considering what he should be saying to her. He finally stood up and moved to the window next to her. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets, and looked out through the glass. "What did you make us for breakfast today?" he asked, in a flat tone.

Haruhi had to restrain herself from sighing in relief; she was off the hook. She started counting them off her fingers. "Well, I've made _natto, _and rice, and..." she said.

* * *

"Good bye, Kaoru-sama, Hikaru-sama. I hope you have a good time at university today."

With that, Kaoru rolled up the window, and the limo pulled away from the mansion. Almost automatically, he looked around to look at Haruhi, who was still standing by the front steps, watching them leave. He could feel Hikaru doing the same at his side. Only when she turned and walked back into the house, did they finally look ahead of them.

Kaoru didn't know why, but the encounter with Haruhi in the morning had left them both rather quiet. They had barely talked over breakfast, which was really good, compared to the Western breakfast they always had. He looked around at Hikaru, and saw that he had a distant expression on his face. Almost cautiously, he reached out and squeezed his hand, which had been lying idly on the seat.

Hikaru cringed for a moment, but then he relaxed and squeezed his brother's hand back. He smiled at him. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Kaoru grinned weakly at his brother. "Hikaru, I should be the one to ask you that question," he replied, and the brightness of Hikaru's smiled was lowered by a notch or two. "You were acting rather strangely after what Haruhi said this morning. What's wrong?"

Hikaru shrugged and shook his head. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Kaoru," he replied, gently starting to pull his hand away, but Kaoru just held on. He frowned at him, looking a bit irritated. "Kaoru, what?"

"It wasn't just a lucky guess, you know," Kaoru told him.

"Kaoru, what the hell are you talking about?" Hikaru demanded.

Kaoru just gave his brother a patronizing look, before letting go of his hand. He turned to look out the window at the green landscapes they were passing through, while dwelling on his thoughts. This was so much like Hikaru, always so slow to understand things. He knew that the fact that Haruhi had made a correct guess about his identity had touched him. He had seen his face when Haruhi had spoken up, and he saw the amused twitch at the corner of his lips.

Haruhi had to be the first one to guess correctly...and for some reason, they both knew it was no mere accident.

_Fujioka Haruhi...you really are different._

* * *

**A/N: Done!! My longest chappie so far! Well, what did you think? I'm quite proud of this one; it was really nice, wasn't it? The twins are slowly beginning to become attached to Haruhi, and she's obviously oblivious to it. Well, anyway, if you did like this one, would you be a dear and please review? I'll be sure to update soon!!**

**Ja ne!**

_- S. N. B._


	4. Chapter 4

**D/C: I don't own OHSHC.**

**Hello!! Wow, it's been so long since I last updated, ne? I'm really sorry about that, but I had exams and I only just finished! So, it's summer now and I have a lot of time on my hands to write...until at least the seventh book of Harry Potter shows up. Hehe. Well, thank you all for the nice reviews you've sent me, and now, without further ado, I'll leave you to read the forth chapter! Enjoy!!**

**Chapter 4:**

"_Aaaa-choo!!_"

Kaoru couldn't help but wince when his brother sneezed; it was probably the hundredth time that morning. He looked down anxiously at him; Hikaru was lying in the bed, wrapped tightly up to the chin with heavy blankets, but despite that, he was still shivering. His nose was red and he looked extremely pale and weary. Kaoru couldn't understand how he could've developed a cold so quickly...he looked extremely fine yesterday.

"I'm sorry, Kaoru..." he mumbled, as he reached out to pull a tissue paper out of the box which was lying next to him. He blew his nose on it. "I won't be able to come with you to the classes today."

Kaoru managed a weak smile. "Don't be silly; you don't have to apologize for that. I mean, you didn't ask for this cold, did you?" he said gently, at which point Hikaru shook his head vigorously. "It can't be helped. Do you want me to stay home with you?"

It was rather childish, but the two of them had never done something, or gone somewhere without the other. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't break out of the tight bond which linked them together...not they wanted to, anyway. When they were together, they felt safe. They felt like no one could harm them in any way as long as they had each other. Kaoru admittedly relied more on his brother than the latter did with him, but that was always the way it had been...especially since Hikaru was the oldest of the twins.

"No, that's alright," Hikaru replied. "You can go ahead. I don't want you to miss your classes."

_That is so unlike you, Hikaru. _Kaoru knew how selfish his brother could be, and normally, he would throw a fit if Kaoru didn't agree to stay home with him. Over the last couple of weeks, Hikaru had changed a bit, and Kaoru had a mild idea to what his source of change was.

"I'll just have Haruhi keep me company," Hikaru continued, quietly.

_Bull's eye. _Kaoru had to strain to appear indifferent in front of Hikaru's statement. He forced a smile onto his face. "That's a good idea; I'll call her for you, then," he told him, in a falsely cheery voice. He gave his brother a small wave. "I'll see you in the afternoon. Get better, okay?"

Without waiting to hear his brother's reply, he quickly darted out of the room, as his control over his facial expressions was starting to reach its breaking limit. Kaoru wasn't really the type to get jealous, but this was the first time some one came in between him and his brother...and that had rather shaken him.

And the fact that he, too, had taken a liking to Haruhi didn't make things any better.

He was too busy trying to sort things inside his head, he didn't notice the some one just coming round the hall, and he directly walked into her. China plates and miso bowls came crashing to the floor, and they both fell back amongst the heaps of broken table ware.

"_It-itai!_"

Kaoru, who had managed to get a good deal of food on his clothes, looked up to see Haruhi on the floor across from him. She, too, was covered in food. Ramen slithered through her hair, and miso stained the front of her white apron. There were also some bits of sauce on her face. He took one look at her messy figure, and couldn't help the loud laugh which escaped his lips.

Haruhi, on the other hand, apparently torn between her humiliation and her desire to yell herself hoarse at Kaoru for not looking where he's walking, plopped down on all fours and started to collect the broken glass. She looked rather red in the face, which Kaoru found rather adorable.

Still laughing, he staggered up to his feet, and then leaned down, grabbed both her hands and pulled her up. He pulled a stray noodle out of her hair. "Leave it, Haruhi-chan," he told her. "I'll get some one else to do it. It's not your job to do the cleaning. Here, take my handkerchief and wipe that sauce off your face."

Still looking rather humiliated, Haruhi accepted the handkerchief he was offering her, and started dabbing at her face. "But I'm the one who spilled everything," she protested through the process. "So, I should be the one to clean it up."

"No, no, I'm the one who caused you to spill it," he corrected her. "Don't worry about it. Look, you missed a spot..."

"I...I did? Where?"

"Right over there."

"Here?"

"No, right there."

Almost automatically, Kaoru reached out and started to wipe the bit of sauce which stained her pink lips with his fingers. He barely registered what he was doing until the heavy silence fell on him like a 2-ton weight. Blushing embarrassedly, he quickly drew his hand away and looked away from her.

"Um...I guess you'd better go and change now," he stated.

"Yes, I should," she agreed, appearing utterly oblivious to the current situation. "You should change your clothes, too, Kaoru-sama, and then give them to me so I could wash them."

"Right, okay."

With that, he turned and ran down the corridor away from her.

* * *

"Take care of Hikaru, Haruhi-chan."

"I will. Good luck at university today, Kaoru-sama."

Haruhi waved silently as the limo pulled away from the mansion, and stood watching it for a few moments, before turning around and walking back inside. She still wasn't able to understand what had happened back there with Kaoru. She had been too bothered by the fact that she'd broken some valuable china whose price might be cut off from her pay to notice anything, anyway. But the curiosity to know the reason behind the stiffness and awkwardness with which Kaoru treated her after that incident was beginning to eat at her.

She tried to recall exactly what happened, but couldn't really think of anything that was out of place. Finally assuming that he was just acting that way because he was worried for his brother, she hurried back to the bedroom.

She knocked lightly at the door, and walked inside. "Hikaru-sama? Are you awake?" she called out.

"Yeah," came the feeble reply, and she had to strain not to roll her eyes; honestly, making such a big deal out of a cold. "Come in, Haruhi-chan."

_And when did they start calling me Haruhi-chan, anyway? _With a soft sigh, she made her way towards the bed. Hikaru was still lying there, wrapped up tightly in his blankets. "How are you feeling now, Hikaru-sama?" she asked.

"I'm so tired, Haruhi-chan, I don't think I'll ever get well again," he whined.

_Oh, for the love of God!! _Haruhi forced a smile onto her face. "Don't say that, Hikaru-sama; I'm sure you'll get better soon," she assured him. "You've had ten doctors come in to have a look at you in the last hour, and they've all given you proper medication. I don't see how you can't get better after _that._"

Hikaru chuckled. "That sounded incredibly bitter, y'know," he told her.

Haruhi cringed. "It...it did?" she said, smiling weakly.

He watched her thoughtfully for a moment, then he gestured for her to sit down on the bed next to him, and she obliged. "What did you do when you got a cold? What did your parents do to you, then?" he asked her.

Haruhi frowned; wondering where those questions were coming from. After a moment, she sighed and looked away from him. "Mom died when I was still a small kid, so I've always had to take care of myself," she told him. "Dad would be always at work, and he didn't have much time to look after me, and we didn't have enough money to go see doctors and buy proper medications. So, I would stay at home, make myself some hot soup, and get into bed, while praying to God that I'd feel better in the morning."

"You've had it rough, haven't you?" he asked quietly.

She chuckled. "I wouldn't say that," she replied, looking around and smiling at him. "I mean, I did get pretty used to it."

All traces of smiles and weariness had disappeared from Hikaru's face now. Instead, he was just looking absently ahead of him, while toying with silken bedspread. She was just starting to wonder what was wrong, when he turned and fixed her with a gentle gaze.

"Haruhi-chan, could you make some soup for me?" he asked, pleadingly. "I know I'll feel better if you do."

Haruhi couldn't resist; she just reached forward and flicked his forehead. "You are such a baby, Hikaru-sama," she told him, ignoring his cry of protest. She smiled wryly at him. "You just don't realize just how lucky you are. I never had any of the things you have, and I doubt I ever will. You shouldn't take things for granted, you know."

Hikaru obviously didn't like that last comment, for he just scowled and looked away. "You probably think that I'm some kind of brat, don't you?" he said, accusingly. Haruhi opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off and continued, "Well, I'm not. I've just been brought up this way. It's not my fault whether I have all these things, or not. Frankly, I couldn't care less. The only thing that I care about having is Kaoru, and that's all."

Haruhi said nothing. She only quietly pondered about how Hikaru seemed to treat everything around him as a possession. He always referred to her as "his personal maid", and always talked with Kaoru as if he were his belonging. Funnily enough, Kaoru didn't seem to mind at all; it seemed quite okay with him to be pushed around by his own brother. It seemed to Haruhi as if he got a sense of security from it, as well.

"It's the same with you, isn't it? Don't you only care about having your dad with you to be happy?" he asked her suddenly.

Haruhi automatically opened her mouth to say "yes", but she clamped it shut again. Much as she hated to admit it, she felt like she didn't need her father to be happy. She's been used to taking care of herself the entire time, so she didn't _need_ him. True, it was nice to have him around most of the time, but she also knew that her world wouldn't necessarily end is she didn't have him with her anymore.

Many of her classmates always commented on how obsessed she was with her lessons. So obsessed, in fact, that she never seemed to seek for a social life of her own. Though grudgingly, Haruhi kept silent; they were right, after all. She never really cared about social relationships; all her attentions were focused on studying...studying, and more studying. Her secret ambition was to grow up to be a lawyer just like her mother, but, unlike her mother, she wanted to be a _successful_ lawyer.

She met Hikaru's eye, and saw that he was still watching her intently, and she realized that she still hadn't replied. "O-of course," she said quickly.

But, she said it too late and too quickly to not rouse any suspicions in the boy. "You're lying," he said bluntly.

"You don't know that," she said defensively.

"It doesn't need a genius to tell that you're lying," he told her. "It's quite obvious. You probably don't even miss your dad that much, because I know for a fact that you haven't called him once since the two weeks that you've come here."

Haruhi cringed; he was right in that point. What more, he just made her feel guilty; what must her father be thinking of her now? His own daughter, whom he hadn't seen or talked to in two weeks, what must he be thinking of her? It was her entire fault, after all, she didn't even give him a number at which he might reach her. Feeling consumed by her own feelings, she quickly jumped up to her feet.

"I'll...I'll go and make you some soup now, Hikaru-sama," she said hurriedly, before turning to run out of the room. She had barely moved when Hikaru grabbed her hand and pulled her down again. She blinked. "Hi-Hikaru-sama?"

"Here ya go," he said, and handed her his cell phone.

She stared at him, confused. "Huh?"

"You were going to go and call your father, weren't you?" he deadpanned, and she felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment. He chuckled, took her hand and placed the phone firmly in her palm. "Use my phone. If you try to use the house phone, you will have to go through a whole interrogation process first before you can even punch in a single number. Besides, I want to see you calling him for myself."

Haruhi hesitated. "I don't know..." she murmured.

He winked at her. "Gotcha, you want privacy, don't you?" he asked, and she gave a meek nod. Laughing, he patted her on the head and jumped up to his feet. "I'll leave the room, then. I'll be standing outside, and when you're done, call me back in, okay?"

Haruhi smiled gratefully at him, and watched him silently as he left the room and closed the door behind him. She then looked down at the phone. She took a deep breath, and slowly punched in her father's number. She pinned the phone to her ear and waited for him to pick up.

Then came the definite click of the phone being answered, and she heard her father's voice on the other end, saying, _"Moshi moshi?"_

Haruhi smiled. "Hello, dad," she said softly.

* * *

**A/N: Done!! So, what did you think? Was it worth the wait? I hope it was, because I'll be wanting reviews, folks!! I'll try to update soon next time!!**

_- S. N. B._


	5. Chapter 5

**D/C: I don't own Ouran High School Host Club. I don't even own Scrabble, and not a single item on eBay. **

_**Konnichiwa, minna-san!!**_** Right, so I haven't updated my story in quite a while, and I sincerely apologize, but I've been feeling a bit down lately, and couldn't shift into writing mode at all. But, finally, I got my inspiration at about 7 a.m. in the morning, switched my laptop on and almost didn't turn it off until I finished writing it, so here you go! Happy reading!**

**Ah, and thank you so much for the reviews! I'm finally over a 100! (bows)**

**Working for the Hitachiins**

**Chapter 5:**

_Haruhi, sweetheart, could you be daddy's life-boat?_

* * *

"C-Z-A-R-D-A-S. There; czardas. I finished my turn."

Haruhi looked up to see that the twins were looking sceptically at the letters she had just laid out on the Scrabble board. The three of them were grouped around one of the many tables in the Hitachiins' own library, with a Scrabble board lying between them. Playing with the twins was one of the rules they had set for her, so when they burst in on her while she was pulling on her maid's uniform, not only was she not able to scold them for not knocking first, but she was also not allowed to say decline the game proposition.

She sighed. "What now?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, Haruhi-chan, but I'm afraid czardas is not a word," Hikaru informed her.

"What do you mean? Of course it's a word," she replied.

Kaoru grinned at her. "Aw, it's okay, Haruhi-chan; we all make mistakes sometimes," he said gently.

Haruhi frowned. "I know that, Kaoru-sama, and I also know that I did not make a mistake; czardas is a traditional Hungarian dance," she said resolutely, and pulled the huge dictionary that had been lying on the table next to her. She opened it, and traced down the words for a few moments before she let out a sound of triumph. "There! Czardas!"

She turned the dictionary towards them, and they both peered down at the miniscule handwriting, before they groaned in defeat. She watched triumphantly as Hikaru counted her score off the board, and noted it down on the piece of paper next to him. It felt good to be a winner.

"Just...how do you know the name of an ancient Hungarian dance, out of all things?" Kaoru demanded.

"I _read_," Haruhi deadpanned, and shot a meaningful look at the pile of homework assignments that was lying on the edge of the table, which she was supposed to be looking through after playtime was over.

"Hey, we do read, too!" Hikaru protested, putting his pen down and reaching for the bag which contains the letter pieces.

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Sure you do, Hikaru-sama," she said in patronizing tones. "If you consider Shoujo mangas to be proper books."

Hikaru cringed, but she was sure it wasn't because of her comment, but because of the fact that she's found out about his Shoujo mangas. He tried to avoid her gaze by looking down at his letters, before picking up three of them and arranging them on the board so that his word read "CRUEL".

"Oh, for the love of God," she said wearily.

"What? Cruel is a word, isn't it?" Hikaru said defensively. "It doesn't necessarily mean that I was aiming at you!"

Haruhi found that rather hard to believe, but she didn't say anything; he was right - cruel was, indeed, a word.

Suddenly, the door bell rang, and the twins' expressions perked up simultaneously. Haruhi wondered vaguely about what sort of item did the twins had bought over the Shopping Channel, or eBay, this time; the house was always receiving packages for the twins. Once, Haruhi thought she had spied a giraffe's wooden head sticking out from the brown paper, but she convinced herself that she was imagining it, especially since she never saw the giraffe anywhere in the house after that. Still, it was easy to miss things in such a big house.

"It's your turn now, Kaoru-sama," she said, handing him the bag.

Kaoru waved a dismissive hand. "No; playtime is over now," he replied, still maintaining that excited expression on his face.

Haruhi was now indignant; it was just like the twins to stop playing when they felt that were starting to lose the game. "Kaoru-sama, that is really not fair," she protested. "You can't just stop playing when..."

"Haruhi, darling!"

"...you feel that..."

"Haruhi! Where's my little munchkin?"

Haruhi's eyes widened in shock, and she whirled around just in time to see the doors of the library being flung upon, and a woman with long reddish-brown hair in a skirt and blouse with a plunging neckline stepped inside. If she was still looking at the twins, she would've seen their jaws drop in shock.

"Dad?" she cried out, getting up to her feet so quickly she toppled the chair to the floor.

Her _dad's_ eyes fell on her, and _his_ brightly-painted lips broke into a huge smile. "Haruhi!!" he exclaimed, and hurried forward towards her. There was a brief moment when Haruhi could not breathe as herfatherhuggled and snuggled and showered her with kisses. "Oh, my little girl, I've missed you so much!"

Haruhi's face had turned a delicate shade of crimson when her father released her. She could hear the twins rustling behind her, but she didn't dare look around at them lest they should see her face and laugh. Instead, she looked up at her dad and smiled...almost mechanically.

"Hello, dad," she said, as warmly as she managed. "This is a surprise. What brought you here?"

"What are you talking about? You invited me, of course," her father answered.

Haruhi blinked; how couldn't she remember doing it, then? Besides, it's not like she'd even consider the thought of inviting her father here, either. "I did?" she demanded.

"Actually, it was your boss who invited me! He said that you missed me quite so terribly, but you were too embarrassed to ask if you could invite me over, so he did it for you!" he chirped, and for the first time seemed to notice that the twins were standing behind his daughter, and gently shoved her aside. "Oh! You must be her bosses! Such good-looking boys! You're lucky, Haruhi! Hello, I'm Fujioka Ryouji, but you can call me Ranka-san!"

The twins both grabbed a hand each.

"Ah, Ranka-san! Hello! We didn't know you were an okama!" Hikaru said cheerfully.

"This has to be the first time we've ever met one!" Kaoru added. "So, is Ranka your Gengi name?"

_God, they're so blunt. _Haruhi hoped her dad wouldn't be offended by this sort of greeting; if she had been in his place, she would've definitely taken offence. Back in her neighbourhood, okamas were completely normal, so you never saw people walking up to you on the streets and telling you how fascinating it was for them to finally meet an okama. She sighed; trust the twins to mess things up.

To her surprise, her dad laughed. "Ara, ara...aren't you two so bold? You both guessed right!" she said cheerfully. "So, which one of you is Hikaru? And which is Kaoru? You two look so much alike, I just can't tell you apart! It's just too kawaii! It's different seeing you in person than talking to you on the phone!"

"I'm Hikaru, and this is Kaoru," he said. "But, Ranka-san! You never told us you were so pretty!"

Ranka gave a trill of laughter, which was interrupted when Haruhi grabbed his shoulder. "Dad," she said slowly. "Why have you been talking to the twins?"

Ranka pouted. "Well, it's because you never tell me anything about you, of course!" he protested. "Just one measly little call won't do!"

Haruhi gritted her teeth, and rounded on the twins. "Hikaru-sama, Kaoru-sama, where did you even get my father's phone number from?" she said as politely as she could.

Grinning, Hikaru pulled out his cell phone, the one she used to call her dad, and held it before her. "Piece of advice, Haruhi-chan, if you're going to use someone else's phone, make sure you delete the number you called from the Dialled Numbers' list!" he told her.

Haruhi groaned. "Thanks for the tip," she mumbled.

Her father draped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. "Why the long face, Haruhi?" he said cheerfully. "Cheer up; Daddy's here! We're going to have so much fun this weekend!"

_"You're staying for the weekend?"_

* * *

Hikaru had to admit that he was having the best fun of his life. This was far more entertaining than when they grabbed that pet poodle of their mother's snotty friend, and painted it all in different colours which refused to come off for months afterwards. No, watching Haruhi squirm and blush while her father retailed some embarrassing stories about her was much better.

"...and she came home to me covered from head to toe with mud, and sporting a black eye, too! It was terrible!" Ranka was saying.

"Dad, please," Haruhi said through gritted teeth.

"Aw, just relax, Haruhi," he chided her. "We're just having a bit of fun here. No harm done. Right, boys?"

Kaoru nodded. "No harm at all; this is all very entertaining," he said, looking bemused. "In fact, I'd like another demonstration of the tantrum Haruhi-chan threw when she found out she'd lost one point on her biology exam due to her spelling mistake."

As Ranka started flailing his arms around while Haruhi steamed quietly next to him, Hikaru gave a half-hearted laugh. He wanted that. He wanted to sit and squirm while his father, or mother, sat and told their friends embarrassing stories about him. He wanted to feel that sense of closeness with his parents, and not just have them around as a money source. It was true that he and Kaoru had deliberately shut everyone out of their own little circle, but he always felt himself longing for a nice, warm hug from his mother, or a strong handshake from his father. It seemed so difficult to ask for that now that he had become nearly nineteen of age; so difficult to step down from his high throne and ask for those simple things.

One of the reasons he had invited Fujioka Ryouji, or else Ranka, was so that he could observe what it was like to have a normal relationship with one's parents. So that, hopefully, he might figure out the best way to approach his own parents with his requests.

Another reason was...well...Haruhi looked so cute when she was angry.

"Dad, stop it! It's not funny!" she protested. "You know I hate it when people laugh at me!"

Ranka gave her a stern look. "Haruhi, dear, it's a good thing to have people make fun of you every once in a while; it teaches you to be humble," he told her in solemn tones. Then his stern expression melted into a dreamy one, and he pinched her cheeks. "Besides, you look so cute when you're angry!"

Hikaru almost snorted into the cup of tea he had just lifted to his lips. It was ironic that he and Haruhi's dad were having the same thoughts. But that could probably be an advantage to him, because he was hoping to learn more about Haruhi through her dad, and had been a bit anxious about the best way to ask him.

Ranka was now ruffling his daughter's hair, and a small smile crossed his face. "But no matter whose teacher's balls she's kicked, or what sort of meal she's screwed up, Haruhi will always be the best daughter anyone could ever have," he said gently. "I didn't think I could survive after my wife died, but Haruhi here remained strong for both of us, even though she was a tiny little thing. If it wasn't for her, I think I would've drifted away long ago."

"Dad..." Haruhi said softly.

Ranka grinned and gave her the thumbs-up sign. "Yes, Haruhi-chan! That expression in which you express your utter love and devotion to me is very good, too!" he said cheerfully. He shot a glare in the twins' direction. "You hear that? It's all mine!"

Haruhi's forehead thudded against the table. "I give up," she muttered.

_I want it so much it hurts. _Hikaru pushed his chair back and got up to his feet, much to the surprise of everyone around the table.

"Hikaru-sama?"

"Hikaru, what's wrong?"

Hikaru forced an easy smile onto his face. "Nothing, I just need to go to the bathroom," he said reassuringly. "I'll be right back."

He left the library in a hurry, and strode towards the nearest bathroom. That wasn't a difficult task, considering there were over twenty bathrooms in the mansion. The smell of pine-wood filled his nostrils when he opened the door, and he felt himself heading for a hide-out he hadn't used in quite long time.

Hikaru crouched down in the bathtub, and pulled the curtains around him.

When he had been a little kid, he once got into a fight with Kaoru, when the latter broke a little racing car he used to really like, and wouldn't apologize about it. At that time, he just felt so upset and wanted to hide somewhere where he couldn't be found. Of course, he hadn't been very bright then, and thought that hiding in a bathtub in a closed bathroom would be a good enough hide-out, because no one came into a bathroom without _knocking_ first, and if they did knock, he thought he'd just _tell_ them that he wasn't there.

In that hour which he spent curled up against the cold surface of the marble tub, Hikaru had felt lost. It was as if the ship which bore him and Kaoru had sunk, and there were no life-boats around to rescue him. He had looked around for someone to comfort him, but there was just no one he could turn to. There was a brief moment were Hikaru had decided he was going to go to school the next day and make all sorts of friendship with many kids, but that resolution was soon forgotten when Kaoru found him and gave him a new racing car.

His ship hadn't sunk today either, and hadn't done so ever since the racing car encounter, but somehow, that wasn't enough to keep him happy and safe anymore. He needed life-boats. He didn't care if it was only one life-boat, but he, so badly, wanted one.

Hikaru had been so engrossed in his own thoughts, he hadn't heard the approaching footsteps against the marble floor. He was only wrenched out of his reverie when the curtains were pulled open, and he looked up to see Haruhi staring down at him.

"H-Haruhi!!" he stuttered, scrambling to climb out of the tub, before slipping and sliding down to its bottom again. Trying to appear dignified, he grinned up at her. "Why didn't you knock before coming in? Or where you hoping to..._stumble_ across me, eh?"

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "No, and I did knock, but you didn't answer," she retorted. She frowned. "Hikaru-sama, what are you doing in the tub?"

"Oh, this?" he said, getting himself back into a sitting position. He faltered for a moment as he racked his brain for a reasonable excuse. "Didn't you know? Sitting in a tub and closing the curtains actually helps you clear out your mind! They always use it in yoga now, too!"

Haruhi looked interested. "Really?" she asked.

Hikaru nodded. "Certainly," he replied. "It's the best if you're feeling troubled and all."

"Wow," she breathed. "I didn't know that."

"Well, now you...o-oy! What are you doing?" he demanded, for Haruhi was now climbing into the tub, too.

Haruhi sat down across from him and hugged her knees to her chest. "Trying to clear out my mind. What else?" she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

_It's all mine!_ screamed into his ear, and he found himself moving as far away from Haruhi as possible; it wouldn't do to make a move on this girl when her dad was just sipping tea down the hall. But the fact that he was sitting in a bath tub with a girl, albeit the fact that they were fully dressed, made his heart thud madly against his chest. It was apparent, though, that Haruhi was completely oblivious to his dirty thoughts.

"So, what's troubling you, then?" she prompted him.

He blinked. "W-what are you talking about?" he said, smiling nervously. "I'm not troubled."

"Why else are you sitting in the tub, then?" she asked. She fixed him with an accusing look. "You know, I didn't come after you for no reason. You seemed pretty distant, and I felt that something was troubling you. So, what is it?"

_Damn; snagged. _Hikaru rubbed the back of his neck, and then he heaved a sigh. "Haruhi, could I ask you for a favour?" he said pleadingly.

Haruhi shrugged. "Hikaru-sama, you're my boss, you don't need favours from me; you only have to ask," she told him.

"No, look...I'm asking you for a favour as a friend...not as your boss," he explained. "Could you do that?"

"Sure, I guess," she replied, looking mildly puzzled.

"Please don't think I'm weird..."

"I already think you're weird."

"Oh."

Haruhi sighed. "What sort of favour is it, then?" she asked. "And hurry up, because my arms are aching, and I think my butt is getting frost-bite."

"Could...could you be my life-boat?" he blurted out.

Hikaru didn't know where that came from. It had just popped out of his mouth for no reason. He had wanted to ask her to promise not to tell Kaoru that he was feeling troubled, but instead, he heard himself asking her that stupid question. "Could you be my life-boat?", what kind of question was that? And why should Haruhi be his life-boat, anyway? She was just a maid, after all. It was as she said, he didn't need to ask her for things; he could just boss her around. Or did things really work out that way?

Haruhi was giving him an odd look, and despite himself, Hikaru felt apprehensive. Suddenly, she chuckled. "Yes, Hikaru-sama, I could be your life-boat," she replied.

_

* * *

_

Daddy, I don't need to be your life-boat...I'm your ship.

**

* * *

**

A/N: Wow, I can't believe I wrote that much. I feel so proud of myself, and this turned out pretty good, too, didn't it? I just felt all warm and fuzzy writing this chapter. I think I should just put this story in the Fluff category, eh? Ah, well, I sure do hope you liked it! Wait for my next chappie!

_- S. N. B. _


	6. Chapter 6

**D/C: I don't own Ouran High School Host Club.**

**Hello!! Well, will you look at that? I'm back with my sixth chapter, and much sooner this time, too! Hehe. It's good to have the inspiration stream on all the time...especially the times when you're dying to take a nap and something in your head just keeps nagging you to get up and write. Anyway, thank you all so much for all your reviews; I can't believe I'm getting so many!! (bows) Just because I rarely ever reply doesn't mean I'm not grateful!!**

**Ah, well, onto the story, then. **

**Working for the Hitachiins**

**Chapter 6:**

It was Sunday, much to Haruhi's relief, and Fujioka Ryouji had "left the building", as he liked to put it. But now, she found another reason to feel stressed, as it so happened that the twins, having been busy hanging around with her father all weekend, hadn't completed a very important assignment that was supposed to take forty percent of their History grades. It made her feel guilty, and thus was consequently led into sitting to write the assignments for them.

"You know, Hikaru-sama, when I said to _step on it_, I wasn't including myself," she said crossly, as she looked over a thick history book.

Hikaru placed his hands behind his head, and leaned back on his rear chair legs. "That's true," he agreed. "But that's what bosses are for; to change the meaning of your words to a manner which would provide most comfort to them."

She sighed. "But doesn't it make you feel guilty, handing in an assignment that was written by somebody else?" she persisted.

Hikaru let his chair fall back onto all fours with a bang, and leaned forward towards her. "I don't think I should be feeling guilty, considering that the person who's writing it for me was the reason I wasn't able to write it in the first place," he replied, grinning mischievously.

"But...!"

"No buts."

"Hikaru-sama, I didn't...!"

Hikaru got up from his chair, as if signaling a stop for their moral conversation. "I need a bath," he said, matter-of-factly, and strode away from the table, leaving a bewildered Haruhi and a Kaoru who had kept his silence for a while now, behind him.

"That was random," she muttered, before remembering the other devilish presence in the room. She cast a shrewd glance in Kaoru's direction, and remembered with a wince that she was supposed to be writing a _different _assignment for him, too. "And I suppose you agree with what your brother said, Kaoru-sama?"

Kaoru shrugged. "Not necessarily," he answered. "I mean, he still does have a fair amount of time to finish writing his essay on his own, so there's really no reason for him to lay the load on you. Although, if you ask me, he did really need a bath; he'd been keeping away from bath tubs for a while now...it's strange."

Haruhi smiled wryly, remembering the bath tub incident all too well. "Well, then, what was you topic of choice?" she asked, slapping the history book with the back of her hand.

Kaoru chuckled. "Haruhi-chan, I would've thought that three weeks was enough time for you to learn that I'm not completely similar to Hikaru," he told her, and she raised a suspicious eye-brow. "What? It's true! My philosophy in life happens to be: _no gain without pain._"

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Right, and how does that philosophy work with the fact that I've completed every single one of your assignments ever since I came here?" she demanded.

Kaoru cringed. "It's...a recently adopted philosophy," he said hastily.

Haruhi nodded, like she didn't believe him. "So, what's your topic of choice?" she asked, as if nothing had been said.

He appeared indignant. "I'm serious!" he protested. He reached forward and pulled the history book out of her hands. "I'll prove it to you; I'm going to finish the assignment on my own, and I won't even ask for your help! I'll write...ten pages! Hey...why are you smiling? You don't believe me, don't you? Well, I'll show you; I shall slave on this assignment!"

And with that, he pulled a few sheets of paper next to him, picked up a marker pen, and frowned down at the book, occasionally highlighting a line or a paragraph. Haruhi watched this quietly, secretly glad that Kaoru was actually going against his brother's judgment, and doing something of his own accord. That made her smile.

"Good for you, Kaoru-sama," she whispered, in a barely audible voice, but it was loud enough to make the corners of Kaoru's mouth twitch with suppressed delight.

* * *

For about the hundredth time that morning, Kaoru found himself fingering the edge of the clear orange plastic folder that was sticking out of his history book. There was nothing remotely special about that folder; it was a normal plastic one that he'd bought out of the stationery shop. The contents of the folder were what was weighing heavily on his mind, and no matter how much he tried to distract himself from it, he would always find his hand unconsciously sneaking its way to touch the folder.

Yesterday, he and Haruhi had stayed up till a very late hour in the library, looking up material for the history assignment. While Hikaru enjoyed an aroma-therapy bath, a scrumptious dinner and a warm and luxurious bed later on, the two of them wasted away on concentrated coffee and Bourbon Creams in the library, sitting amongst thick history books and references, with a laptop between them.

Kaoru had to admit that it had been a very enjoyable experience for him, sitting alone with Haruhi in the library with only a table and some books between them. He could've almost reached out and touched that pale, soft face of hers. Yes; Kaoru couldn't deny that he'd had such thoughts in his waking hours. When he was drifting off in class, or simply relaxing in a bubbly bath, he'd find his thoughts wandering to that single girl that has kept his and his brother's minds occupied.

But the fact that he had written the assignment with Haruhi wasn't the cause of his trouble...rather, it was the fact that after he'd finished writing that assignment and taken a good look at it, he found the he didn't like it, and he ended up calling a history professor and paying him money to do the assignment for him. He was going to submit that assignment, and the one he'd slaved on was left to lie on his desk at home.

_"No gain without pain."_

Suddenly Kaoru was feeling like such a damn hypocrite. He had just performed that act to impress Haruhi. The truth was, on that day when Haruhi's father visited and Hikaru left the room under the excuse that he needed to go to the bathroom and later came back looking all happy and smiley after Haruhi had went after him, he felt a twinge of jealousy. He was jealous that his brother was able to act so casually with Haruhi, and yet he still wasn't able to break past the boss-maid barrier. He had just remained in the library with Haruhi yesterday for his own selfish reasons.

"I hate myself," he muttered under his breathe.

"No you don't," came a voice in his ear, and he jumped. He rounded to see who had spoken to him, only to see Hikaru frowning at him. "What's up?"

"Nothing; I'm fine," he assured him. He tapped his watch. "We're going to be late for our history class."

Hikaru grinned. "You're right! Those assignments Haruhi wrote for us shouldn't be kept in the dark for long!" he said cheerfully. "Let's go. I'll race you there!"

As he hurried off, he found that he was also envious that Hikaru was able to come to campus with the Haruhi-written assignment tucked underneath his arm, and yet was able to look so calm and unconcerned about it. Sighing, he trudged after his brother, who was now out of sight, down the crowded corridor.

Walking further down the corridor to the classroom, one particular crowd briefly caught his attention. A bunch of guys were grouped around something, or someone, that's been backed up against the wall. Judging by the guffaws and the snide looks the guys were exchanging, Kaoru guessed that the center of attention was probably a girl who had forgotten to wear a bra underneath her clothes, or something like that. He was ready to move on when a familiar voice rang in his ears.

"_Sumimasen, _I'm looking for Hitachiin Kaoru-sama," the voice said. "Do any of you happen to know where he is?"

"Ohh? Kaoru-sama, eh?" one of the guys said playfully. "You wouldn't happen to be Kaoru's maid, would you? Lucky bastard; to have such a pretty little thing working for him. Tell you what, if I pay you well, would you rent your self to me?"

"Sorry?"

"Come on, sweetie, you know what I mean," the same guy continued. "I'm sure your precious Kaoru-sama won't mind lending you to me for a few..."

"Leave her alone!"

Kaoru had acted on pure impulse. Hearing that innocent voice asking about his whereabouts being answered in such a crude manner...it made his insides twist and squirm with rage. It made him shove that jerk aside and place himself between the group and Haruhi, who was surveying all this with polite puzzlement.

"Whoa, calm down, Hitachiin!" the guy said, raising his hands as if to fend him off. "I was just fooling around! I meant no harm...honest!"

"You can go and fool around someplace else!" Kaoru snapped. "As far as I'm concerned, anyone who touches Haruhi will be in for serious trouble! You've been warned! I don't want to see any of you talking to her, you understand?"

"Sure, sure, we won't interfere with your girlfriend anymore," the guy sneered.

As the group dispersed, snickering and snorting amongst themselves, Kaoru grabbed Haruhi's arm and stirred her to a quiet corridor. He turned to face her, and she was still looking absolutely perplexed. He was glad he had been around, because he certainly didn't want to imagine what those guys would've done to her if he hadn't stepped in.

"Kaoru-sama, I'm so glad I found you!" she exclaimed.

He sighed wearily. "Haruhi-chan, what on Earth are you doing here at Ouran University, of all places?" he demanded. "Don't you realize what a dangerous place this is for you? You should be grateful I helped you out back then; those guys are merciless!"

Haruhi frowned. "Kaoru-sama, this is just a university campus like any other," she pointed out. "Why would it be dangerous?"

"This is not any other university campus; this is Ouran - the place for the rich and famous," he explained to her. "Everybody here comes from rich families with high statuses. You, on the other hand, are a maid. You could be trampled on, and no one will even look at you. It's not worth their effort to bother themselves with people who are of lower ranks."

"Well, those guys certainly did the opposite," she remarked.

"Yes! And that's exactly why I don't want you coming here ever again! I don't want you exposed to such guys again, alright?" he said, and she nodded meekly. Kaoru pushed back his hair. "Right, so why did you even come here?"

"Oh, yes!" she exclaimed, and rummaged in the bag she had around her shoulder before holding up something before him. "There you go!"

_**AZTEC GOLD**_

_**A Research Paper for Advanced History**_

_**Written by Hitachiin, Kaoru**_

Kaoru stared at the title he recognized all too well. Those were the exact same words he had typed on the laptop yesterday in the library with Haruhi. This was the first page of his assignment, and the others were there, too. It was his assignment.

"I found it on your desk while I was cleaning the room this morning, Kaoru-sama, and thought that you'd forgotten and must be in urgent need for it," she explained. "So I came here to give it you; I didn't want your efforts going down the drain."

Kaoru nodded silently. He knew he should tell her that he had left it at home on purpose, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. Haruhi was regarding him with a bit of a proud look on her features, and he didn't want that look transformed into one of disappointment. He didn't want to ruin the hard-working image he'd presented to Haruhi. Moreover...he wanted her to continue looking proudly at him. It made him feel rather special.

He accepted the paper from her and smiled. "Thank you, Haruhi-chan...going into all that trouble of delivering my paper to me; you're a life saver," he told her.

"It was nothing, Kaoru-sama; I'm just glad I was able to be of help," she replied.

"Haruhi-chan, you have no idea how much you just helped me. You managed to let me see what was more important than just an A," he said earnestly, and she frowned at him, apparently confused. He chuckled and placed an arm around her shoulders. "Never mind. Let's get you out of here before someone else decides to bother you."

As he led her down the corridor, he discreetly slipped out the orange folder out of his history book, and let it drop into an unsuspecting recycle bin. He didn't care that he was probably flunk this assignment, and that he'd paid good money to have a PhD-level essay...he was going to submit the essay Haruhi had come all the way to give to him.

"By the way, Kaoru-sama, there's nothing more important than an A."

* * *

The next day found Haruhi enjoying her afternoon break with a book, in her room, before the twins returned home from university. She was just getting to a very interesting part in the novel, when a faint rustle at the door diverted her attention from the criminal analyzing of Fredrick's mind. She looked curiously around her book, and noticed that a folder had been slipped underneath the door.

Enticed, she clambered off of her bed and hurried forward to pick up the folder. One look at it, and she felt a smile tugging at her lips.

It was Kaoru's assignment, and even though it had been graded with a C minus, she felt like she couldn't be prouder of him. She knew that he hadn't been intending to submit this essay, because she had placed it in his bag herself, and finding it on his desk the other day was an obvious sign that it was unwanted. She had only taken it to him to see how he would react, and she was pleased that he'd gone and done the right thing.

This C minus was definitely more important than any A.

* * *

**A/N: Yeepee! I'm done! This was cute, ne? I decided that I've done a lot of Hikaru-Haruhi, and thought that there should be some more Kaoru-Haruhi to spice things up, don't you agree? I'm still not sure who will win Haruhi's heart in the end, so you'll have to stop taking all the fluffy situations as hints, and simply read the story as it goes. Gomen!**

_- S. N. B._


	7. Chapter 7

**D/C: I don't own Ouran High School Host Club. **

**Hello! Chapter seven says hello, too, and apologizes on behalf of this author for the delay in updating this story, and would like to thank all those wonderful readers who've left their reviews on his sister, chapter six. Ehm...anyway, without further ado, and certainly without any further lunacy, I shall leave you to read chapter seven. Enjoy!!**

**Working for the Hitachiins**

**Chapter 7:**

It's been a week more than a month now. Time passed really quickly while staying in the Hitachiin household, especially when you were really not working at all. Haruhi didn't feel like she was a maid to her employees; they were always so nice to her, and they took her out with them on trips, and got other servants to clean her clothes and rooms, and prepare her meals for her. In fact, to Haruhi, this all seemed like it was a vacation, except that she was getting paid for it, too.

The twins had also seemed to forget about the rule concerning their breakfast, which meant that she could sleep in as much as she wanted. She'd wake up to find that she'd already gone off to their classes, and then she'd spend her time in the library or in the lounge, passing time with a good book or a documentary until they came back, and then she'd help them with their studies, and after that they'd sit to a good show or just play together.

One day, after they'd finished writing their assignments, they took her out to the mall and bought her many outfits, as they decided that she will no longer wear the maid's uniform, but normal clothes just like them - that further increased her feeling that she was more of a friend than a maid, but there were still these little boundaries where she couldn't say no to anything they said, and had to add the "sama" when saying their names.

Still, even though they had become good friends, the twins felt like complete strangers to her. They were always more willing to talk about her feelings and her thoughts, while their own were always forced out of the conversation deliberately whenever they were brought up. She really knew nothing substantial about them.

What more, even till today, they always managed to surprise her with their idiocy.

"I'll kill you!"

"No, I'll kill you!"

"But I'll kill you first!"

"No, I'll kill you first!"

Haruhi stood standby and watched in exasperation while the twins wasted their time away sitting before the TV screen, with a game station placed between them. They had been going at it for more than two hours now, and they kept trying to drag her into playing with them, but she refrained…more because she had no idea how the thing works, than the fact that she thought it was childish. She wanted to leave the room, but they wouldn't let her, saying something about her presence bringing down a calming aura upon their wicked souls.

For the twelfth time in those two hours, she tried to distract them away from their game. "Hikaru-sama, Kaoru-sama, you still have homework to do," she said loudly.

"We'll do it later, Haruhi-chan," they chorused.

Haruhi's nerves twitched. "But that's what you said ten minutes ago!" she protested. "And the ten minutes before, and the ten minutes before the other ten minutes, and…!"

Hikaru rounded on her. "Alright, alright, we get your point!" he cried out, and she scowled, looking peeved. He gave her a cocky smile. "Look, we'll do our homework once you play with us, and win two games, one against each of us."

"What?" she yelped. "But…but that could take ages! I mean, I don't even know how to play the stupid game!"

"We'll teach you," Kaoru offered, handing out a joystick, but she continued to look reluctant. "Oh, well, when we end up failing our classes and have to repeat our year, we'll know who to blame, won't we, Hikaru?"

His brother nodded. "Absolutely," he agreed.

Haruhi groaned; they always managed to win her around in the end, whether it was by using their academic failure theory, or their drug addicts' theory, or their serial murderer theories. Scowling, she stomped over towards them and plopped down on the floor between the two of them, and took the joystick out of Kaoru's hand. She frowned for a moment at the controls.

"So what do I do?"

It took Haruhi a while to get hold of the controls; she kept mixing the jump button with the punch button, and the only thing she seemed to be really good at was ducking, much to Kaoru's frustration – he was the one who got to play with her first. Hikaru just sat aside, watching, bemused, as Haruhi struggled with something for the first time since they met her.

Surprisingly, though, Haruhi felt like she was enjoying herself. She had always avoided arcades and video games, because she thought they were an absolute waste of time which would be best spent studying. She also hated the idea of having to play and lose with lots of spectators watching her. But in front of the twins, she didn't seem to care about losing, and she was excelling in that field. The twins always made it feel like it was okay to go wrong sometimes, it was okay to make a mistake every once in a while. They always said that perfect makes a party-pooper, and always warned her against being one.

"Give him a right hook, Haruhi-chan! Give him a right hook!" Hikaru urged her.

"I don't know what in the bloody hell a right hook looks like!" she shot back at him, moving her fingers aimlessly around the controls.

Kaoru managed to beat Haruhi's fighter with one final kick, before turning to pull a sad face at his brother. "You're rooting for Haruhi?" he said, pouting. "Do you want me to lose?"

Hikaru was by his brother's side in a flash. He cupped his face between his hands. "_Gomen_, Kaoru," he said softly. "It's not that I want you to lose. I just wanted to play with Haruhi, too, but that was just too selfish of me..."

"Hikaru..."

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Oh, for the love of God," she muttered. She grabbed Kaoru by the back of his shirt and pulled him away from Hikaru and back to the game. "Sit. Play. I'm not going to beat either of you if you keep wasting time like that."

In the next hour, Haruhi had managed to considerably raise her gaming skills, and was getting really hyper and alert from all the caffeine she'd been taking in the form of coke. By the end of the hour, she was shouting things like, "Come on! Show me what you've got!" and "Ha! You call that a punch? My grandma could do better!", that Kaoru felt compelled to let her win more out of fear than anything else.

When she was done taunting the intimidated Kaoru about his loss, she turned to Hikaru and grinned. "Come on; let me do you now," she said, and paused. "Um...can we all just ignore what I said so that I can rephrase my words?"

But the twins' impish grins told her that they were going to hold it her for the rest of her life.

Moments later, however, she came to find out that Hikaru wasn't an easy opponent. With Kaoru, she felt like she was being given an easy game, but the look of determination on Hikaru's face told her that she was going to have to try her absolute best if she were to become king...or queen. Her first few matches against him were rather depressing for her, because he was winning without even losing a single HP point. But she pulled herself together and used her old ducking technique, which made Hikaru utter a string of curse words that were only muted when he managed to kill her fighter again.

She wasn't making any progress, though, and it was getting a bit late. Hikaru seemed to be enjoying himself, unlike Kaoru, who had been amused for the first half hour but gradually became so bored he was reduced to braiding his hair and putting little metallic plates in it. Haruhi didn't even dare ask why was it that he knew how to make a braid.

He suddenly cleared his throat, and Hikaru turned to look at him. Haruhi seized the opportunity and threw a couple of special moves she'd learned at Hikaru's fighter, rendering him dead.

"Whoo!" she exclaimed. "I win!"

She smirked at Hikaru and waited for him to explode. She was expecting him to yell about how it wasn't fair that she took his moment of distraction to win the game, or to demand a rematch, or to make up some sort of excuse for his loss, or something like that. She certainly wasn't expecting what followed.

"Ah, well, it can't be helped," he said, shrugging. He clambered up to his feet. "Come on, Kaoru, let's get to bed."

She stared at him, perplexed. "Bed?" she exclaimed. "But it's only eight p.m.!"

Hikaru did a show of stretching out his arms. "Well, what can I say? I'm pretty exhausted after all that playing," he told her. "You seem pretty disappointed, though. Did you want to play more?"

This was a trick question. Hikaru wanted her to admit that she had fun playing, so that he would be able to tease her because she had been wrong. She contemplated about the best way to answer his question, without having to lie, and still manage to talk him into playing with her. "It's not that," she said slowly, and carefully. "I just don't think I've won fair and square, and you know how much cheating irks me, so I was thinking maybe we could have a couple more games to determine who the real winner is."

Hikaru smiled at her. "What are you talking about, Haruhi-chan?" he said. "You _did _win fair and square! I've never seen anyone play better than you! You're the champion of this game!"

Haruhi watched desperately as he and Kaoru climbed onto their bed. "But...but...wait a second, your homework! You still have to do your homework!" she said. "You promised that you'd do it once I won against the two of you!"

"Yes, we did, which is why we'll do it tomorrow," Kaoru replied, pulling the bed sheets over him. "You're forgetting that it's a holiday tomorrow, Haruhi-chan."

_Darn. _Sighing in defeat, she gathered up the game station back into its case and got up to her feet. "Well, then, I guess I shall leave the room. Good night, Hikaru-sama, Kaoru-sama."

She had barely taken two steps to the door when Hikaru stopped her. "Hold up!" he called to her, and she turned to look at him. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Haruhi frowned. "I don't think I am," she replied.

He grinned. "Does rule number six ring a bell?" he asked casually.

"Rule number...?" she started, but trailed off as realization dawned on her. She stood, frozen to the spot, as she slowly recalled what rule number six stated. "You will tuck us in and give us a goodnight kiss..."

"That's right!"

Haruhi moaned softly. She had always managed to avoid carrying out that rule by going to bed before the twins, and being the gentlemen they were, they never woke her up when she was asleep. She suddenly understood what they had been trying to do this evening; they were getting her so occupied she forgot about the time, and when she was least expecting it, they crawled into their bed.

She smiled weakly. "Hikaru-sama, Kaoru-sama, I really don't think this is necessary," she said pleadingly.

Kaoru raised an eyebrow at her. "What are you talking about, Haruhi-chan? It's in the rules, isn't it? I didn't think that you were one to break rules! After all, you're always lecturing us about how important it is to follow them!" he exclaimed, in mock horrified tones.

_Darn you. _Haruhi sighed. "But...!" she protested, in a final desperate attempt. It was a pity that she didn't have any reason to argue with the facts they were laying out before her.

"Rules are rules," Hikaru said in a sing-song voice.

Haruhi's feet felt like heavy boulders; she literally had to drag them all the way over to the twins' bed. She had _never _kissed a boy before, and the whole idea was just really intimidating for her. And now she had to kiss two boys? Life was just too unfair. The twins, of course, did not share the same opinion, for their grins were so wide it seemed like their lips were about to crack.

She touched the sheets and pulled them to Kaoru's chin, and then she leaned down and planted a quick kiss on his forehead, praying that he wouldn't object to the location of the kiss. Thankfully, he didn't. "Good night, Kaoru-sama," she said.

"Good night, Haruhi-chan," he replied, grinning. His tone of voice strongly gave her the impression that she was his mother.

She next moved to Hikaru's side of the bed. She tucked in his covers around him, and leaned down to give him his kiss. She would just kiss him and run out of the room and the nightmare would be over. But, of course, things were never that easy. Having been stepping on the edge of the silk sheets that were dangling to the floor, the effect of leaning down caused her to slip and she fell against him, her lips landing on his.

There was a brief moment when all was still, and then Haruhi pushed herself away from her boss, her hands to her mouth. She was blushing to the roots of her hair, and she was having trouble trying to form proper speech. Kaoru was looking stunned, and Hikaru had his face completely underneath the wretched silk sheets.

"Hikaru-sama, _gomen!_"

Undistinguishable, incoherent speech issued from underneath the sheets.

"_Gomen!_"

But when her apologies didn't seem to be having an effect, since the incoherent speech faucet was still turned on, she turned on her heels and ran out of the room, particularly slamming the door shut behind her. She leaned against the door, breathing heavily, her hands still to her mouth.

She slowly started counting backwards to ten, while willing her furiously beating heart to calm down.

**

* * *

**

A/N: Woot! Done!! What did you think? I know you were all waiting for that kiss to happen, weren't you? Hehe. Well, I normally wouldn't ask you to do it (yeah, right), but in honour of my birthday which is today, could you please leave a review for me? I know it would really make me happy! Thanks!!

_- S. N. B._


	8. Chapter 8

**D/C: (Insert disclaimer here, because author doesn't wish to talk about all the things she doesn't own)**

**Hello!! Surprised to see me back so soon? Well, the large number of reviews I got for the last chapter made me so happy; I couldn't not repay you nice reviewers back with a quicker update! So, without further ado, I shall leave you to read the eighth chapter; I know you've been all waiting for it! Enjoy!**

**Working for the Hitachiins**

**Chapter 8:**

Have you ever noticed how everyone just settles to the comfort and security of their rooms whenever they were in trouble? Or whenever they were uncertain about some feelings, or...just wanted to stay away from a certain some one?

Haruhi didn't wish to leave her room. She just wanted to stay by her window and stare out at the sky, and not have to face anyone for the rest of the day.

She hadn't been able to get any sleep last night. Whenever her eyelids did so much as droop, vivid images of the kiss she and Hikaru had shared would attack her mind and render her wide awake. So she ended up tossing around in bed, while what-if's and what's-going-to-be's bombarded her mind until it felt like it was going to explode. Not only had she gone and kissed a boy for the first time, but this boy also happened to be her boss...and frankly, she had no idea what she should be feeling about it, which really frustrated her.

She couldn't deny that, while accidental, the kiss had a lingering effect. Minutes after it had happened, her heart was still thudding loudly, and her lips were still tingling. She wondered vaguely about what Hikaru felt about the whole deal. Not that she particularly cared or anything...or did she?

Whatever thoughts she was having faded as she looked up in horror as the sky started to get cloudy and dark.

* * *

Hikaru had never been confused. All his life, he had been absolutely confident and ascertained when it came to his thoughts, his decisions, his relationships with others, and everything else. But now, today, he was feeling utterly confused, and he didn't like it. He was propped up against his pillows in bed, even though it was already 3 p.m. His arms were folded against his chest, and a deep frown creased his forehead.

Kaoru was stretched out on a couch before the TV screen, and every few minutes, he'd shoot a quick glance at his brother, before turning back to the documentary which he wasn't even watching. They hadn't exchanged a word since last night, since the moment when Haruhi had kissed Hikaru, and now, the silence was starting to weigh heavily on him.

He sat upright on the couch. "Hikaru, we need to talk," he said firmly.

Hikaru sighed; he had been expecting this, but that didn't stop him from dreading it. He did not want to talk. He only wanted to pretend like nothing happened, but he knew that wasn't possible. "Alright, Kaoru, let's talk," he murmured. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Don't act like you're so ignorant; you know pretty well what I want to talk to you about," Kaoru retorted, sounding slightly annoyed. "I want to talk about the...about _what_ happened last night with Haruhi-chan."

"Nothing happened," Hikaru said quickly, trying to maintain an impassive expression.

"What are you talking about?" Kaoru cried out, jumping to his feet. "Of course something happened! You and Haruhi _kissed_, for God's sake!"

Hikaru didn't react. "So?" he said. "It's not like we meant to kiss. It was simply an accident; Haruhi slipped and kissed me on the lips instead of the forehead - end of story. It's nothing to be so flustered about. Accidents do happen."

"Oh, yeah?" Kaoru shot at him. "If that's what you think, then how come you're still in bed right now? How come you're acting like a silly little teenage girl?"

Hikaru's nerved twitched. "Kaoru!" he said sharply.

For a moment, Kaoru looked like he wanted to take back what he had said, but he just glared at his brother instead. "What? Am I wrong? Am I wrong in saying that you're like a teenage girl?" he snapped. "You're so selfish, Hikaru. Did you even notice that Haruhi hadn't even come to wish us good morning today? Did you notice how embarrassed she had looked when she left our room yesterday? But you're just so busy lounging in bed, pretending that the whole world revolves around you to even care about others!"

Hikaru stared, bewildered, at his brother. Never before had Kaoru even raised his voice when talking to him, and now he was out-rightly yelling at him? A lot of things weren't making sense this morning...

"Kaoru, I don't understand..." he stuttered.

"Of course you don't!" Kaoru yelled. "Because your eyes are always closed! They're closed to the outside world! All you see is yourself!"

Hikaru lost his nerve. He threw the sheets away and got up from bed. "I don't need to hear this from you, Kaoru!" he yelled back, his chest heaving up and down. "If you're jealous because Haruhi kissed me and not you, then don't go and dump all your frustration on me!"

"Jealous? Who's jealous?"

"You're jealous!! It's so obvious! If you hadn't been so jealous, you'd have been making cracks about the whole thing by now!" Hikaru cried.

Kaoru faltered, and there was a brief moment when neither of them said anything. Then Kaoru turned and stormed out of the room, and slammed the door shut behind him. Hikaru groaned and slumped down on the bed, and placed his head between his hands.

_This sucks._

He and his twin brother had their first real fight, and that just after he had been kissed by a girl whom he knew he couldn't touch. He didn't know which upset him more. Fighting with Kaoru had really upset him. He wanted to take back each word just as he was saying it, but the words were just rolling off his tongue and he couldn't do anything to stop them. And then Haruhi...that girl was special. She wasn't like anyone she'd ever met, and he didn't want to harm her in any way, which he apparently did when he didn't go after her after what happened last night. He had really messed up.

Worse yet, he really didn't know how to apologise to either of them.

A deep rumble was heard outside the room, and Hikaru looked up, noticing for the first time that the sky was grey and cloudy out the window. "It really is such a dreary day," he mumbled.

* * *

Kaoru's throat felt tight. He blindly walked through the hallways of the Hitachiins' vast mansion, his vision blurred by tears that he was trying hard to fight back. He couldn't believe that he'd actually gone and yelled at Hikaru like that...it just felt wrong. He and Hikaru were closer than any random couple could ever be; they always set their differences aside and simply laughed off whatever petty quarrel they started to have. But now, because of one girl, their world seemed to have turned upside down.

Hikaru was right. He was feeling jealous. He had always felt jealous of the special relationship Haruhi and Hikaru seemed to have, but that seemed to have increased ever since last night when the two of them kissed. He knew it was an accident, but seeing as how flustered the two of them had been, he couldn't help but sense that there was something going on. Otherwise, the two kissers would've probably found a way to diffuse the situation into jokes and laughter.

He wanted to go to Haruhi right now, and talk to her, but he simply didn't have the guts to do that. He knew he would probably just take one look at her and then flee. He liked Haruhi, he really did, but he didn't know how he was supposed to express that to her.

He paused as lightning flashed across him through one of the windows, and he looked out to see that it had started to rain. Drops of water streaked down the surface of the glass window, disrupting the image of the boy that was reflected against it.

Kaoru sighed. He wanted to go and check up on Haruhi. Her not coming to their room in the morning told him that she was probably distressed by the happenings of last night, and even though he was really nervous about having to face her, chivalry took hold of him and he made his way to her room. When he reached the door, he rapped his knuckles gently against the wooden surface and waited for her to call him in.

Moments passed however, and there was no reply from her. Frowning, Kaoru knocked again, just as thunder clapped once more. Loudly this time. When, again, there was no reply, Kaoru opened the door and poked his head inside.

"Haruhi-chan?"

The room seemed empty. The bed was unnaturally smooth and tidy, and the curtains were drawn, and the dressing table was bare - as always. Thunder sounded again, and just as Kaoru started to close the door, he heard a soft whimper, and he flung it open again.

"Haruhi-chan?" he said in a sharp, clear voice.

He stepped into a room, and looked around for a trace of the girl, but she was no where to be seen. Feeling conspicuous, he knelt down to the floor and peered under the bed. He hadn't expected it, but he found Haruhi underneath there, curled up into a warm ball.

Kaoru almost laughed out loud, but he held himself. This was not funny. Taking a closer look at Haruhi, he saw that she appeared terrified. She was shivering, and there were tears rolling down her cheeks. Feeling alarmed, he reached out and grabbed her arms, and started to pull her out of her hiding position. Haruhi relented at first, but in the end she allowed him to drag her out. He helped her up to her feet, and gently wiped the tears away from her face. Then he placed his hands on her shoulders and leaned down so that his face was in level with hers.

"Haruhi-chan, whatever were you doing down there?" he said gently.

Haruhi opened her mouth to speak, but then the sky thundered above them and she let out a soft scream. Involuntarily, she found herself burying her face into Kaoru's chest, and her hands clung on to his shirt as she sought for protection. For a brief moment, Kaoru was surprised, but he slowly realised what this was all about, and he wrapped his arms around her small, shaking figure.

"It's okay, Haruhi-chan," he said softly. "I'm here now. I'll stay with you until it goes away, okay?"

Haruhi managed a tiny nod, her hands not releasing Kaoru's shirt out of her grasp. He slowly guided her to the bed, and had barely seated her down on it when there was another rumble of thunder and she jumped into his arms again. He looked down helplessly at her, uncertain of what he should be doing.

_Take her now. Look at her; she's so vulnerable. You'll be able to do anything with her. _

Kaoru felt sick with himself for having such thoughts. He was ashamed. Was he really so desperate for a form of affection from Haruhi that he was ready to abuse her weakness to satisfy his needs? For a moment, he felt like he couldn't trust himself with Haruhi. He just wanted to release her from his arms and run out of the room. But seeing how terrified she was right now, he knew he couldn't leave her alone...not like this...

He sat down on the bed, and pulled her down next to him. He put an arm around her in a way that the palm of his hand fell directly over one of her ears, and he placed his other hand on her other ear. He pressed gently against them, hoping that this simple act would block out some of the thunder's terrible sound. Haruhi seemed to realise what he was doing, and she relaxed against him.

"It will be okay, Haruhi-chan," he whispered reassuringly, nestling his chin on the top of her head.

* * *

Hikaru paced before the door leading into Haruhi's room. It had been two hours since he and Kaoru had argued, and that was more than enough time to pull his thoughts together. He had come to the decision of apologising to Haruhi, seeing as that was the key to cool off the steam Kaoru had built up against him. He'll just walk in there, crack a joke about the whole kiss, and everything will be fine again.

He knocked at the door. "Haruhi-chan, it's me, Hikaru," he called. "Can I have a word with you, please?"

No one answered, and he puzzled over this, seeing as he'd looked for Haruhi around the mansion and hadn't found her anywhere, so she had to be in her room. He knocked again, and walked in when he received no response.

He froze at the door, and stared at the sight before him, his hand gripping the door's handle so tightly it might've shattered between his fingers. On the bed lay Kaoru and Haruhi. They were still in full apparel, but they were both fast asleep, and Kaoru had one arm wrapped tightly around Haruhi, while her head rested against his chest.

Hikaru felt the anger bubbling up inside of him. He wanted to stride right up to the bed and wrench the pair apart, but he couldn't. All he seemed to be able to do was tighten his grip around the door handle, and watch them as they slept, oblivious to his furious thoughts.

* * *

**A/N: There! Done! I had to get some Haruhi-Kaoru moment here to make up for the last chapter, and since Hikaru already got this part in the series, I thought it would be interesting to make Kaoru help Haruhi out of her phobia in my story. I know, there's a hell lot of drama in this chapter...so angsty, too...but I promise there will be more humour and light romance in the upcoming chapters. Did you like it, though? I sure hope you did, because I'll be wanting reviews!!**

**Oh, and before I go, I thought it was time to thank all you nice reviewers properly. So, I'd like to give a million thanks to...**

**FanGirlForever, Heartbreakdi, midnitearz, Crystalgurl101, Lt.RaIQ of the Boondock Ma..., tokyobend17, xXX Bishiman Sephiroth XXx, randomangel, Kaoru4, Angel of the klutz, SOR4, yami-hikari lover13, lu.e3, Sirius Canis Black, JMai, Wickedlady 101, MischievousPuck, Raine Delmont, AnimeSuperGirl, Tsubame Sakura, xXxOWARIxXx, Foxer, sheeprock, mental-dead-kid, -Mahou Koi-, Bakuragal , SnowCharms, Hawk-EVB, Dream Cager, Em, Kagome5177, Meenah Hopskotch, sakura mae su, patback409, cHeRrYbL0ss0m07, ChrisCrossing, fan girl 666, SilverLittleOne, KasperLassie, XFNET, blackfox15, Kimster44, Emma, frienz4ever, Konnichiwa Minna, Raven'd Fleet, Ichika, yamora04, Stef with an F, Night Beauty, dragongirl92, Von, sorrowangel823, Zemyxaphile, Paradocks, Kichou, Norika Hiwatari, miharu shoujo, naruchaan, Nancy, HisNameIsMyNM2, Kikumaru'sLove15, Rin, zcatrix-bloodlord, Kaijukote, Akane Hikari, FallenRaindrops, AngelicRoses, DarkCocoa, ANBUluuver91, peachtarts, Anemies, Darkindangerous1313, socksophrenia, KittCat x3, lolipop3186248, WandaCarla, DJStarvingArtist, driftingwanderer, Sketched Words, vamprincessmiyu, Blackchick, xxfirebubblesxx, simber, MistressMizu, Demon951, Rina, Abi, xMiStReSsOfHeArTsx, Wendy, hitsugaya07, moon at twilight, Slayer-Enfiniti, devil's dame13, glasskimono, ThorNarugami, gem2niki, London Tear, Hikaru Hitachiin, Topaztok, xXxTsukuyomixXx, xSunnySideUp, vampire-anime-lover19, awin-chan, alaine, Death Butterfly Alchemist, AnimeSiren, Xtomboysmurfx, Winter's Flame, lightningstrxu, CultKagome and Sesshomaru, ciafi13, cowgirlkitten2000, Oodango, dark mirth, KinKitsune01, xFrecklesx, AkiShadain, animegeek1, Kenjenkei, Chimiri, Oktoberfest, nipoji098, ravvern, haruhifans, Rekoil, Kerrilea,mvar22, LadyofDragons089, akai-kurenai, DaniBD **

**...for reading and reviewing my story! Every review counts! Thank you SO much!!**

_- S. N. B. _


	9. Chapter 9

**D/C: I don't own Ouran High School Host Club. **

**Hello! I'm so sorry for the long wait, but I was busy working on some other stories of mine and couldn't find time for this; I always tell myself never to write four stories at the same time, but I just never learn. Anyway, thank you so much for all the reviews you sent me! They really made me happy!! And now, onto chapter 9!! You're going to be in for a surprise!**

**Working for the Hitachiins**

**Chapter 9:**

"Oy! Where are you going?"

Hikaru was standing in the doorway to Haruhi's bedroom. Haruhi, on the other hand, had her back to him, and was busy trying to decide what to place inside that brown suitcase that was lying open on her bed. It wasn't as if she had that large of an array of things to choose from...it was only the matter of the suitcase being too small to contain more than the bare necessities.

She only looked around at him after she'd folded a shirt and laid it inside. "I'm packing, what else?" she said.

Hikaru shifted awkwardly. "You aren't leaving, are you?" he said casually. "I mean, I know we've been a little off those past couple of days, but it's no reason to make you want to leave, right? We're cool, aren't we?"

"A little off" was an understatement. Ever since the night when Haruhi had accidentally kissed Hikaru, things seemed to take a definite turn downhill. Hikaru was always avoiding her, and she wasn't able to look him straight in the eye either; the sense of comfortableness seemed to have disappeared. And things weren't going well between her and Kaoru either; he seemed to be acting very carefully around her, and was always so polite. As if that wasn't enough, the twins weren't on speaking terms - they hadn't exchanged a word at all for a couple of days.

She sighed. "Yes, we're cool, Hikaru-sama," she replied. "But this is my weekend off for this month, and I've decided to go home for a while."

"Oh, right."

Haruhi started to fold another shirt. "Hikaru-sama?" she said, and he grunted in reply. She swallowed before speaking up again. "What exactly happened between you and Kaoru-sama? You aren't talking, and it's really starting to weird me out. I'm so used to hearing you yapping away in my ears, and so it's odd that..."

"Haruhi, please; it's really none of your business," Hikaru cut her off. "Whatever problem Kaoru and I have remains between the two of us."

"Yes, but..."

"I don't want to talk about it!" he snapped, and she stared at him in shock; he had never yelled at her before. He noticed her expression, and tried to reconcile. He reached out to her. "Haruhi-chan, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to yell out at you like that."

Haruhi averted her eyes from him, and turned to her suitcase once more, and started zipping it close. "Could you please leave the room?" she said quietly.

"No, Haruhi-chan, come on...I'm really sorry. Please don't be like that," he pleaded.

"Hikaru-sama, I need to get dressed in order to leave," she said flatly. "I can't possibly do that while you're still hanging around the room."

"Ah, yes, right. Sorry," he mumbled, blushing embarrassedly. He quickly retreated out of the room and closed the door, but Haruhi could tell from the gentle thud made against the door that he was still standing outside. Sure enough, he spoke up again, "You'll be coming back on Monday, then?"

"Yes, Hikaru-sama, I'll be back on Monday morning. Don't worry; I can't leave even if I wanted to, anyway. Not with that contract hanging above my head, anyway," she called out to him through the door, as she slipped out of the clothes she was wearing. "Remember the contract, Hikaru-sama?"

"Yeah, I do. Good old contracts."

Haruhi sighed wearily; if it wasn't for that stupid contract, she would've left the Hitachiin household and gone back home ages ago. Living with the twins had been an interesting experience, but it was rather troublesome at the same time...and not just for her, for the twins, too. She wasn't stupid; she could easily tell that her presence had affected them both. Everything they did seem to automatically turn into a competition to impress her, although _why_, she absolutely had no clue. Point is, it was making them fight amongst each other, filling their days with petty squabbles and sarcastic remarks - something she was sure didn't exist before she'd come along. She wanted to help them, but she thought she had a fair idea how to do that.

Once dressed, she hefted her suitcase off of the bed, and opened the door to her room, nearly causing Hikaru to fall backwards inside. He turned a delicate shade of red, and quickly tried to resolve the situation by offering to carry her suitcase to the front door.

A limo was waiting for her outside, and she climbed inside, before Hikaru placed the suitcase at her feet and closed the door. He leaned in through the open window to look at her. "Well, take care of yourself, won't you?" he said.

Haruhi nodded. "Could you please tell Kaoru-sama I said good-bye?" she asked. Hikaru's features clouded for a moment, but he nodded his head, nonetheless. She smiled. "I'll see you on Monday, Hikaru-sama. Be good, okay?"

Hikaru grinned, and stepped back as the driver started to pull out of the gravel path of the driveway. Haruhi watched him waving at her for a moment, and waited until they were a good distance away from him before whipping up her phone and quickly dialing a number. She placed the phone against her ear and waited for her call to be answered.

Finally, it was picked up, and a cheerful voice rang down the other end, "Hello!"

Haruhi smiled. "Hello, Tamaki-senpai," she said.

* * *

Kaoru stood by the French windows, gazing out at the limo which was pulling out of the driveway. He had wanted to say good-bye to Haruhi before she went away on her weekend, but when he saw that Hikaru had been with her all the while, he decided to stay out of the way. Hikaru was making his way back into the mansion now, and moments later, Kaoru heard him walking determinedly past the door of the room in which he was.

He sighed. This was really the pits. He and Hikaru hadn't been speaking…let alone look at each other, for the last two days…and needless to say, he hated the feeling of emptiness it gave him.

When he woke up next to Haruhi, he had found the door to her room open…and he was easily able to guess that Hikaru had walked in on them. He had wanted to explain to him that it was nothing; that he was just staying next to her because she was afraid of thunder…but _he _wasn't even sure of that. Lying there next to that girl had given him a sense of happiness and comfort. She had quickly fallen asleep when he was with her, and he could've easily slipped away to his own room, but when he imagined how terrified she might be if she woke up and there was still thunder at work, he had chosen to stay next to her.

_Haruhi. _

Neither he nor Kaoru had ever fallen in love with anyone before...and it was just ironic that when they did, it had to be the same girl that they fell for.

Sighing, he sank down in an arm chair and picked up the book he had been reading. Lunch came and went and he didn't budge from his place, despite the fact that the maids had come by the room to call him to the dining room. He was worried he might run into his brother if he left the room. The two of them hadn't been arguing for Haruhi's sake; they didn't want to upset her. Of course, he didn't know that Hikaru, as well, was locking himself up in a room...and that Haruhi probably thought that fighting it out was the best solution.

Apparently, he had dozed off in the room as well, because he was woken up abruptly by his cell phone vibrating in his jeans' pocket. Rubbing his eyes, he reached in and pulled it out. His vision was still blurry and the room was rather dark, so he couldn't make out who the caller was. He put the phone to his ear and said, "Hello? Kaoru Hitachiin speaking."

"Hello, Kaoru-sama. This is Haruhi," came the voice on the other hand.

He sat upright in the armchair. "Haruhi-chan, hi!" he exclaimed. "Oh, I'm so sorry; I didn't give you a proper good-bye before you left for home! I...!"

"That's alright, Kaoru-sama," she replied, sounding rather bemused. "More importantly, Kaoru-sama; I was wondering if you and Hikaru-sama would like to come over tonight."

"Tonight?"

"Yes, there's a wonderful fair tonight, and I thought it would be nice to go there together...the three of us."

"You want to take us to a fair?"

"Yes! We've never went out together, and a fair would be fun!"

"Well..."

"Aw, c'mon, Kaoru-sama," she pleaded with him. "It's not a school night, so you'll have enough time to finish your homework tomorrow. What do you say?"

Kaoru rolled his eyes; only Haruhi would give that reason to go out and have fun. "Oh, alright, then," he agreed. "I'll come."

"And Hikaru-sama," she pressed. "You'll tell him, won't you? If you don't, I'll just call him myself."

Kaoru sighed. "No, that's alright," he replied. "I'll...I'll tell Hikaru to come."

"Wonderful! I'll see you there in an hour, then!" she exclaimed, and she hung up once she'd given him the address to the fair ground.

Kaoru put down the phone and just sat there for a moment, simply staring off into space. He was rather doubtful about the reason behind Haruhi's sudden invitation - she was always glad to be away from them. She particularly ticked off the days for her weekend off! And inviting them to spend it with her was rather...odd.

However, he had another problem at hand. How was he going to inform his brother about this when he wasn't even talking to him? It didn't take him long to come up with an idea, and he reached out and pressed the button on the desk next to him. It was barely a minute before a maid was knocking on the door, and bowing as she walked into the room.

"I want you to go to Hikaru and tell him that Haruhi had invited us to a fair, and that we're supposed to meet her in an hour," he said. He pulled a scrap of paper and scribbled the address on it. "Give this to him; it's the address to the fair ground. Oh...and have two separate limos arranged for us."

In an hour, two limos had pulled out in front of the main entrance of the local fair. Kaoru and Hikaru stepped out of their respective cars, both looking stoically ahead of them. Smiles lit up both their faces when their eyes fell on Haruhi, who was approaching them. However, their smiles immediately drooped when they saw the blond guy walking next to her. What more, they were holding hands.

Haruhi smiled when she reached them. "Hello! I'm so glad you two were able to make it!" she said cheerfully, and they both gave her a mechanic smile. The blond tugged at her hand. "Oh, right. Hikaru-sama, Kaoru-sama, I'd like you to meet my senpai, Tamaki Souh. Tamaki-senpai, these are my bosses, Hitachiin Hikaru-sama, and Hitachiin Kaoru-sama."

The guy named Tamaki grinned at them. "Hello, it's nice to meet you," he said, and they both nodded silently. The blonde's smile flickered. "Haruhi-chan has told me about you."

_Haruhi-chan? Haruhi-chan! We are the only ones allowed to call her that!, _Kaoru wanted to scream at him. He found that he didn't like this Tamaki guy; he didn't like his brilliantly good look, or his polite attitude, or that fact that he and Haruhi were holding hands. However, he was a friend of hers, and it was only polite to act nice to him. "Oh, did she?" he replied, still maintaining his mechanic smile. "Funny, she never mentioned you."

Tamaki draped an arm around Haruhi's shoulder, and Kaoru immediately felt like wrenching it away. He was able to feel the anger radiating off his brother when Tamaki went as far as pulling Haruhi to his side. "Well, Haruhi-chan has always been secretive about her private relationships," he told them, grinning.

Haruhi pulled away from him. "Tamaki-senpai!" she hissed. She smiled back at the twins. "Well, shall we go?"

As she and the blond turned and headed back through the gate, he and Hikaru exchanged a quick look, and a resolution formed between them; they were actually agreeing on something for the first time in two days.

Tamaki Suoh had to be destroyed.

**

* * *

**

A/N: (giggles) Tamaki makes an appearance!! And...is Haruhi actually...

_**flirting **_**with him? And what are Hikaru and Kaoru going to do about it? Well, to get all those answers, you'll just have to read the next chapter! Until then, could you please review? I'd appreciate it! Thanks!!**

_- S. N. B. _


	10. Chapter 10

**D/C: I don't own OHSHC.**

**Hello again! Wow, it's been ages since I last updated, eh? I'm terribly sorry, but I've been away on vacation, and you really don't expect me to write while I'm on vacation, do you? Anyway, I'm back now, and with my tenth chapter! I hope you enjoy reading this one; I had such fun writing it!!'**

**Oh, and just for the record, Tamaki is a "commoner" in this story! (Le gasp)**

**Working for the Hitachiins**

**Chapter 10:**

"Look at all the rides! They look amazing! Hikaru-sama, Kaoru-sama, which ride do you want to get on first?"

Haruhi looked back at the twins, and caught them shooting death glares at someone. They realized she was watching them, and quickly turned their attention back to her with huge grins on their faces, but the damage was already done. She sneaked a quick glance in the direction in which they were looking, and glimpsed the back of Tamaki, standing next to a candy booth. She was feeling rather concerned for her senpai now; the twins seemed to be shooting him murderous look quite often...and they'd only met him for barely fifteen minutes.

Tamaki now returned holding four sticks of cotton candy. Smiling, he handed one to each twin, and then handed her one. "Sweets for the sweet," he said, winking at her.

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "I thought I told you to cut it out," she said in an undertone, while poking at the fuzzy, pink candy.

He grinned. "I'm sorry, but I'm really getting into this role, Haruhi-chan," he retorted. "It's really fun!"

She pulled away a tuft of cotton candy and stuck in her mouth, feeling it melt against her tongue. "Well, be careful not to have too much fun, okay?" she said warningly. "We agreed to make them feel threatened, but not threatened enough to kill you."

"Aw, Haruhi-chan! You're worried about me!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms around her and pulling her into a hug.

"Senpai!" she hissed, shoving him away when she saw that the twins were slowly shredding their cotton candy to pieces.

Bringing Tamaki along to the fair was all part of a plan. Haruhi believed that if she got the twins to focus on something else other than fighting against each other, they might reconcile...and since she knew they were always trying to impress her, and that she was the original reason why they weren't on speaking terms, she thought that by bringing someone else along, they might work _together _against that particular person. The most likely candidate to pose as a "threat/enemy" was Tamaki...with his blond hair, blue eyes and dazzling smile, he was enough to put any other guy on an edge. Not that it mattered to Haruhi, anyway; to her, Tamaki was just a friend...no matter how hard he tried to be more.

Her plan seemed to be working well so far, but knowing the twins, they could always ruin anything.

She handed her candy to Tamaki, and walked over to them. She grabbed Hikaru's hand, and Kaoru's with her other hand, and started to pull them forward. "Come on, aren't you excited?" she said cheerfully. "There are so many things to do here! Look around! Doesn't anything attract your attention?"

Hikaru cast a bored look around the place. "Not really; we have far more exciting games at our own..." he said, but stopped when he caught Kaoru shaking his head a mere fraction."I mean, let's try getting you that big teddy bear, Haruhi-chan, what do you say?"

Haruhi had to suppress a snort; it was so like Hikaru to express his indifference to "commoner" events, and more like Kaoru to give him warning looks - this was off to a good start. "That sounds great!" she exclaimed. She grinned. "But you're going to have to compete against Tamaki-senpai; he's brilliant when it comes to winning prizes!"

"Oh, is he?" the twins intoned, their voices dripping with venom.

"Yup, I sure am!" Tamaki said boastfully, as he stepped up behind Haruhi. "Tell them about that big heart I won for you on Valentine's Day, Haruhi-chan! Wasn't that the most humungous heart you ever laid your eyes on?"

Tamaki was pushing it too far, but it seemed to be working, as the twins clenched and unclenched their fists. "Haruhi-chan," Kaoru said calmly. "Why haven't you told us that you like big teddy bears? We could've filled your room with them! _And _we'd have them imported from Europe, too - you know we'd only give you the best quality!"

Haruhi tried her best not to let her smirk show. "You know I do not care about materialistic things, Kaoru-sama; you know I only like a gift when one puts an effort into it," she told them, giving them an innocent look.

The twins looked as if they'd received a slap in the face, but they quickly recomposed themselves. Hikaru smiled politely at Tamaki...something Haruhi didn't think he'd be capable of. "Tamaki-san, would you be willing to join us for a game?" he asked. "Let's see who can win the bear for Haruhi."

Tamaki smiled. "Why, I'd like that, Hikaru-san," he replied. "What are we playing for? Any bet you can think of?"

Kaoru reached out and placed a hand on his brother's wrist, but the latter just shrugged him off. "Alright, Tamaki-san, you're on," Hikaru agreed. "The first one who wins the bear has to pay for all the rides. It'll be me and Kaoru against you. Agreed?"

Kaoru opened his mouth to protest, but he clamped it shut again. Haruhi looked anxiously between the three of them...the hot-headed Hikaru, the calm Kaoru and the sneaky Tamaki - this was not a very good combination. She willed Tamaki to turn down the bet.

"Agreed," Tamaki said, and she groaned.

"Look, you guys, you really don't have to do this," she ventured. "I don't want that bear anymore."

But she already knew that Hikaru and Tamaki wouldn't listen to her. Their minds were set, and nothing she said would make them quit. Somehow, this had turned from a battle to impress her, to a battle to prove who the best man was. She sighed.

_Stupid Tamaki._

They both looked at her now. "Who will you be rooting for, then, eh, Haruhi-chan?" they chorused, and she gave them a perplexed stare.

_What the hell did I get myself into? _

* * *

Kaoru leaned against the wooden booth and watched silently as his brother and that guy, Tamaki pay for their four balls at the counter. He really didn't approve of this whole bet thing, but his brother seemed pretty excited about it, and he doubted he'd have listened to him, anyway. What he found surprising, though, was that he and Hikaru hadn't argued the entire day. He didn't mind, really; he was actually very pleased about this. It was part of the reason why he hadn't protested about the bet in the first place - there's really no need for unnecessary arguments, is there?

Hikaru showed him the four yellow balls he'd got, grinning enthusiastically, and Kaoru gave him a thumbs-up. As he and Tamaki started aiming for the pyramid of cans in front of each one of them, Kaoru stole a glance in Haruhi's direction, where she stood by the booth looking exasperated. He was feeling that Haruhi was up to something; she was always looking forward to her weekend off so that she could get away from them, but now she was inviting them to spend it with her. It was all very suspicious. What was more suspicious is her relationship with Tamaki. From what he'd observed, the two of them weren't romantically involved, so why did Tamaki keep implying it?

Haruhi caught him looking at her, and he turned away quickly, a slight blush coloring his pale cheeks.

"Oy, Kaoru, it's your turn now!" Hikaru suddenly said, handing him the remaining two balls. "Knock 'em dead, bro!"

With a wry smile, Kaoru accepted the balls and turned to the cans. "You didn't knock over a single one?" he cried in exasperation, and Hikaru grinned sheepishly. Sighing, Kaoru glanced to his side and saw that Tamaki only had three cans left. "You have to make things difficult for me..."

A few minutes later, four balls and several toppling cans, the four of them were walking away, with Haruhi hugging a huge bear tightly to her. While the twins grinned like the Cheshire Cat, Tamaki was reduced to poking around his wallet.

"You were brilliant, Kaoru," Hikaru said for the tenth time, as he draped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him in a slight hug. "When did you learn to aim like that?"

Kaoru smiled at his brother's touch. _I've missed you, Hikaru._ "Camp...remember when they made us toss those horse shoes?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah. Stupid camp counselors," Hikaru muttered, scowling. In an instant, his expression changed and he was grinning wickedly at Tamaki. "So, Tamaki-san, which game should we play now, eh? The big rides look so cool, don't they?"

Kaoru glanced at Tamaki; he wondered if it were fair to make him pay for the rides. If he was a commoner, then he might not have enough money for all of them...he'd feel bad to make him pay. He took Hikaru aside. "Hey, Hikaru, let's share the load with him," he whispered, and Hikaru opened his mouth to protest. "Look, if we help him, don't you think Haruhi would be impressed with how generous we are?"

Hikaru paused for a moment. "You're right," he said, nodding. He walked over to Tamaki and clapped him on the back. "Hey, there, Tamaki-san! I was thinking, maybe we shouldn't be too rough on you; Kaoru and I want to help you pay for the rides."

Tamaki blinked, and so did Haruhi. "You do?" he asked, surprised.

"Yeah, of course we do," Hikaru said cheerfully, but Tamaki continued to look surprised. "Come on! That roller coaster looks too awesome, doesn't it? Don't you want to ride on it? What do you think, Haruhi-chan? Do you like roller coasters?"

It was decided to ride on the roller coaster. However, things didn't go smoothly. Kaoru and Haruhi stood by watching with bored expressions as Tamaki and Hikaru fought over the right to sit next to Haruhi on the bench. There was a long line waiting behind them, and the crowds were getting angry, yelling stuff like, "I'll sit next to her, damn it, just move!" and "Let the blond sit next to her! The other guy looks so vulgar!"...which had a bit of truth in it; the leather attire Hikaru had on did give off the air of vulgarity.

Kaoru finally took Haruhi's hand and led her to the train. He gestured for her to sit down before sliding down next to her, and lowered the safety barrier over them. Tamaki and Hikaru were still oblivious to them.

"Haruhi works for me! And since she's my employee, _I _should sit next to her!"

"I'm her senpai! I've known her longer than you do! If anything should sit next to her, it should be me!!"

Kaoru rolled his eyes. "Oy!" he called, and they both looked around at him. Their jaws dropped ever so slightly. "Get a move on! There are still so many rides left, and if we're going to try them all, we need to hurry!"

With the unmistakable look of two people who had just been cheated, they both grudgingly climbed into the seat behind them. Kaoru smirked as he heard them grumbling; he was glad he was the one sitting next to Haruhi...after all, if Haruhi got scared, then the person she'd cling onto was him. He paused and backtracked.

_Damn. I'm starting to sound like Hikaru._

As if on queue, Hikaru leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "That was so mean, Kaoru," he mumbled. "You know I wanted to sit next to Haruhi-chan."

"You'll sit next to her next time, Hikaru," he said without looking back at him.

"Do you think I'm deaf?" Haruhi snapped, and they both jumped...which was painful, considering the protective barrier was over their shoulders. "I'm sitting next to no-one next time!"

By the time the ride was over, and they stepped out, Kaoru and Hikaru had rushed off to a corner to _relieve _themselves. As Kaoru dug in his pocket for a napkin, he could hear Tamaki guffawing behind them, and he scowled...way to impress Haruhi. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see Haruhi, looking concerned.

"Are you two okay?" she asked. She reached into her bag and fetched a couple of tissues. "Here you go."

"Thanks," Hikaru murmured.

Kaoru avoided her gaze. It was embarrassing enough that he was the one who had been clinging on to Haruhi throughout the ride, but now she seemed to be acting like their nanny or something. But he was rather touched that she wasn't laughing about them like Tamaki was.

He accepted the tissue from her. "Yeah, thank you, Haruhi-chan," he said.

* * *

Midnight found the foursome standing in front of the Ferris Wheel, all gazing up at the height of it...well, except Tamaki, who was busy squeezing water out of his clothes, having been _accidentally _pushed into the shallow waters of a tunnel. They had particularly tried every single ride in the fair, even the ones that were meant for the youngsters. Hikaru kept insisting that he's making up for the childhood times where he never got to ride those games.

"So, shall we ride this and call it a night?" Hikaru suggested.

"Yes, please," Haruhi murmured, and tried and failed to stifle a yawn. "I'm really tired."

Hikaru was actually pretty excited about riding on the Ferris Wheel. He would drag Haruhi in with him, and he'd be alone with her for about ten minutes. Not that he was going to try anything with her, he would never try to do anything which would hurt her...but it still would feel rather special. It would be his and her moment. Haruhi would probably doze off...but it was going to be _his _shoulder she was going to lean against.

He was feeling rather happy now. He had the most fun he'd had in a long while, _and _he was back on speaking terms with his brother again, which was really the highlight of this whole evening. Things couldn't have been more perfect...if only that blond bastard wasn't tagging along with them. He managed to suppress a wicked grin; he had really given Tamaki a difficult time tonight...the water incident was probably the worst that had happened to him, compared to the popcorn with extra butter that Hikaru had knocked down the guy's front, tripping him so that he fell on a puddle of nacho sauce, and so on...

There was no way Haruhi would go for him after all that.

They got their tickets and waited in line for their turn. When they go there, Hikaru turned around to take Haruhi's hand, but she took him by surprise, and deliberately shoved him inside the carriage. Toppling over the bench, he whirled around, looking aghast.

"Haruhi-chan, you're coming on ssstron...argh!" Hikaru broke up when Kaoru came crashing into him. "Oy! What's the big idea?"

But Tamaki and Haruhi were standing aside and waving while the game attendant closed the door on the twins. They plastered their faces against the glass of the door as it started to move upwards. Hikaru shook his fist at them.

"That was low, Haruhi-chan!!"

Kaoru had slumped down on the opposite seat and was now gazing outwards. "There's nothing we can do now, though," he muttered. "Unless you plan on crashing the window and try to see if you can fly..."

"Ha ha ha," Hikaru drawled, as he settled back on his seat. He sighed. "What are we supposed to do now?"

Kaoru shrugged. "Enjoy the view?" he said. "I'm more curious about why Haruhi and Tamaki were so intent on getting us into the same carriage."

"Yeah..."

Suddenly Hikaru realized that this was the first time the two of them were alone since they came to the Fair ground, and the weight of their argument suddenly came crashing on him. He was dealing with it well when the other two were around, but now that it was just him and Kaoru, he felt awkward. He could tell from the way Kaoru was rapidly tapping his foot against the floor that he was feeling awkward, too.

Hikaru cleared his throat. "So...we had fun, didn't we?" he said conversationally.

"_Hai._"

"That idiot Tamaki is really annoying, though, isn't he?"

"_Hai._"

"It was hilarious when I knocked him into the water, wasn't it?"

"_Hai._"

Hikaru scowled. "It was really nice of Haruhi-chan to invite us here, no?" he said, and added, "Don't you dare say _hai_."

"_H_...oh," Kaoru said, blinking as he turned to face his brother. He flushed. "Sorry."

Hikaru sighed. "We can't keep this up, Kaoru," he mumbled. "Well...I can't. I know I haven't been talking to you, but it's been tearing me up inside. I don't want to ever stop talking to you; it feels so lonely without you. I've really missed you, Kao-chan...and I'm sorry about everything I've said, but I was angry. I really wasn't thinking. I'm really sorry."

Kaoru was gaping openly at him. "I don't think I've ever heard you apologizing, Hikaru," he finally said, and Hikaru shrugged. A tiny smile seemed to creep onto his face. "I'm sorry about what I said, too. I didn't mean it either. I missed you, too, Hika-chan."

There was a momentary silence, before the two brothers reached out for each other, pulling the other in a tight embrace. For two fellows who were used to sleeping with their arms wrapped around each other, it seemed ages since they last hugged, and they savored it. It was their moment alone. When they pulled away, tears were forming at the corners of Kaoru's eyes.

Laughing, Hikaru leaned forward and brushed the tears away with his fingers. "You're such a baby, Kao-chan," he teased him, and the latter stuck his tongue out at him. His expression was solemn again, and he folded his arms across his chest. "What are we to do about Haruhi, then? We both like her, so it's no point hiding it."

Kaoru smiled wearily. "It's her choice, isn't it? We don't know, she might not even like us," he told him.

"That's absurd, Kaoru; everyone likes us."

"Well...we won't fight about her, will we? We will never let a girl come between us. Promise?"

"Promise," Hikaru echoed. "But if she goes for that Tamaki, I'm hiring a hit-man!!"

Kaoru laughed, and Hikaru smiled happily. It had been a long while since he was able to sit and enjoy a good laugh with his brother. It felt good to be able to do it again.

_I love you, Kaoru. _

**

* * *

**

A/N: Dun, dun, dun!! So the feelings are in the open now! Things are going to get rather interesting now, wouldn't you agree? And no, before you start wondering, I'm not implying any kind of incest by mentioning the last line...it's perfectly normal for brothers to love each other. I love my brother; he's SO cute!! (grins) Anyway, I'll definitely try to update sooner next time. But for now, a review? Please?

**Ja ne!**

_- S. N. B. _


	11. Chapter 11

**D/C: I don't own Ouran High School Host Club.**

_**Konnichiwa, minna-san! **_**I'm terribly sorry for the long wait, but I'm sure you're probably bored of hearing me apologize by now. I keep telling myself not to engage myself in more than one story at the same time, but I get carried away by those evil little plot bunnies! I swear! (smiles apologetically) Well, anyway, I'll stop babbling and let you read the chapter in peace, shall I? Enjoy!**

**Working for the Hitachiins**

**Chapter 11:**

"Haruhi-chan! We're going to take a dip in the Jacuzzi! Would you care to join us?"

The girl in question rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to...hey! What are you doing? Don't...let go of me!" she squealed as the twins each grabbed one of her arms and started frog marching her down the corridor. "I said NO!"

Laughing, the twins released her and raced down the corridor to the Jacuzzi room, while calling things such as, "Haruhi-chan, you're no fun!" and "Party-pooper!" over their shoulders. Despite her exasperation, Haruhi couldn't help the small smile which touched her lips. The twins had been acting like that all week; always cheerful and laughing and doing everything together. Things had definitely taken a positive turn since the trip to the fair ground. It was as if those two hadn't been arguing for the two days before. Haruhi was very impressed.

She was impressed by how well her plan had worked. "I'm a genius," she kept murmuring to herself.

With the twins gone, she headed back to their bedroom to clean it up. Last night, the three of them had had some sort of slumber party. Hikaru and Kaoru had insisted that she spend the night in their room. They had a second bed moved in for her, and they stayed up talking for a few hours, before finally succumbing to sleep. Of course, when she woke up in the morning and went into the bathroom to freshen up, she found that the twins had painted her face during the night. She had been rather furious with them, but yet couldn't bring herself to yell at them when she saw them sleeping, their arms wrapped around each other. She had gotten pretty used to the sight of them together now; it had become quite normal for her.

As she started making the twins' bed - the second bed had been moved out of the room after she woke up - she felt herself replaying what the twins had said to her the previous night. She realized they'd never opened to her before like that.

_"Haruhi-chan, are you still awake?" _

_"Yes." _

_"Haruhi-chan, we like you very much, don't we, Hikaru? We've never liked anyone before - we don't like our parents that much, either; mum is always away on fashion tours, and dad is in Africa minding his diamond mines. We never had any friends. But you're our friend, Haruhi-chan, and we like you." _

_"Why...why are you telling me this __**now**_

_"Haruhi-chan, if there's anything Hikaru and I have learned from you, is to never leave anything till later. So...we're telling you that now, before later. Maybe you should, too." _

_"Do you like us?" _

_"I...you're alright." _

Judging by the silence that followed, Haruhi knew that wasn't the answer they'd been hoping for, but it wasn't as if she had an idea what to tell them. She really didn't know what she felt towards the twins - sometimes she liked them, the other times she wanted to murder them...she couldn't form a proper idea about them. Still, she was rather overwhelmed by that confession. The twins like her. They were fond of her. It was nice to know that people liked you.

When lunch hour came and the twins still hadn't come out, she trudged unwillingly to the huge hall in the Hitachiins' household, which was like an indoor gym on its self. It had an indoor pool, a full set of gym equipments and exercise machines, not to mention a Jacuzzi and a sauna. Haruhi had never ventured in there, even if the twins were in their classes, as she was suspicious they had hidden cameras all around the gym.

She gave the door a gentle push and walked inside. "Kaoru-sama? Hikaru-sama?" she called, her voice bouncing off the walls and echoing in the vast room. She took a few cautious steps forward, her eyes scanning the place. "Lunch is ready. All that lounging in the Jacuzzi must have made you hungry, am I right?"

Her gaze drifted to the Jacuzzi, but it was already drained of all water. The lights in the exercise room were switched off, and the windows of the sauna room weren't fogged up by steam. Frowning, she walked over to the pool.

"Hikaru-sama! Kaoru-sama!" she called again. She stood next to the pool's edge, her hands on her hips. "I hope you aren't up to one of your tricks again!"

Haruhi wasn't stupid, and she certainly was very wary. Straining her ears, she was able to hear the quiet shuffling of footsteps on the tiled floor, drawing nearer and nearer. Just when they were right behind her, she stepped aside to allow the twins to tumble into the pool with a yelp and a splash. Grinning, she stood over them as they resurfaced, spurting water from their mouths.

"You're mean, Haruhi-chan!"

"We just got changed into dry clothes!"

She rolled her eyes. "_I'm _mean?" she retorted. "May I remind you that I'm not the one who was attempting to push the other into...NO!"

Haruhi was too late to react as each twin grabbed one of her legs and pulled. She fell painfully on her butt before being dragged, fully-clothed, into the warm water. She let her self sink into the waters for a few moments, before kicking up back to the surface, spluttering and blinking water out of her eyes. She looked around for the twins, only to see that they had already climbed out of the water, and were grinning down at her.

"What the hell was that?" she demanded angrily. "I'm soaked now! That was such a cruel stunt! Stop laughing!"

"_Gomen, gomen_, Haruhi-chan!" Kaoru wheezed, wiping tears of mirth from the corners of his eyes. He held out a hand for her, and so did Hikaru. "Here, let's help you out."

Haruhi had to fight the temptation to pull the pair of them into the water again, and she doubted she had the strength for it anyway. So she let them pull her out, and stood on the tiles, drenched from head to foot. "You two are unbearable! What's the big idea, pulling me into the water like that?" she demanded, glaring at them. However, the twins were only staring openly at her now, and she frowned. "What's wrong? Why are you...? Gah!"

Haruhi had only just realized that the dress she was wearing was now clinging to her body in all the right places. She felt herself blushing, and folded her arms across her chest, and averted her eyes from them.

"Would you please get me some towels now, or a robe?" she said quietly.

"Y-yes..."

"R-right away..."

"Stop staring at me!"

* * *

Even though Haruhi was now dressed in dry and somewhat baggy clothes, Hikaru wasn't able to get that image of her standing by the pool with her dress clinging to her body, out of his mind. Twice she caught him looking at her, and he had to quickly busy himself with something else, to hide his flushed cheeks. They were now sitting at a table in a fancy restaurant, where they'd taken her as a way of apologizing for pulling her into the pool.

"I don't know about this, those dishes look very expensive to me..." she was now saying, glancing at the twins over the top of her leather-bound menu.

"Don't pay attention to the prices, Haruhi-chan," Kaoru chided her. "We're the ones paying for this, and we've got enough money to feed an entire nation, you know."

Haruhi rolled her eyes at him, and went back to scrutinize her menu. "Well, I guess I'll have some spaghetti, then," she decided.

Hikaru snorted. "Haruhi, you can have spaghetti any other day!" he exclaimed, scooting closer to her on the padded bench that surrounded the round table they were sitting at. He leaned over so he could have a look at her menu. "Look, why don't you order...?"

"Ootoro?" she said.

Hikaru blinked. "Fatty tuna? You want to have fatty tuna?" he asked.

She nodded, smiling meekly. "I...I never tried it before, so, if they have it, I would like to try it," she murmured, blushing slightly. Both twins were gaping at her now. "Please?"

"GET SOME OOTORO TO THIS TABLE!!"

A little more than an hour later, the three were sitting in the back of one of the Hitachiins' many limos, fed and overly stuffed. Haruhi was still looking rather embarrassed, much to the twins' delight - she looked so cute when she was embarrassed. It was a total fiasco back at the restaurant, as waiters rushed back and forth to their table, putting plates of tuna and all sorts of exotic dishes beneath her nose. Almost everyone dining there was regarding their table with interest.

"You didn't have to go to that length, Hikaru-sama, Kaoru-sama," she murmured. "You spent more than 3000 dollars on lunch."

Hikaru smiled merrily at her. "3000 is nothing, Haruhi-chan!" he said cheerfully. "It makes a little part of our daily allowance!"

"You can't treat money like that!" she said, agitated. "There are people out there who don't even have 5 dollars to spend between them for a whole week, and you've just gone and spent 3000 freakin' dollars on lunch! A lunch which more than half of it was thrown in the trash!"

The twins simply gave her a look of polite puzzlement, and Kaoru asked, "Where do we go to now?"

Hikaru had already a pretty good idea where he wanted to go next, and he called out the name of the place to the driver via the intercom. In a few minutes, the three had stepped out in front of a large boutique. Haruhi looked ready to jump back into the parked limo, but for the second time that day, the twins were frog marching her forward. A few words with a saleslady there, and she was being guided into a dressing room. Hikaru and Kaoru sat before the door of the room, exchanging impish grins.

"I'm coming out now," Haruhi announced a little later.

"Okay!"

The door opened and Haruhi stepped out wearing a sleeveless black top covered in sparkly studs, and wearing a white miniskirt over boots which reached up past her knees. She looked very uncomfortable in what she was wearing. As one, the twins gave her a thumbs down, and said, "You look like a hooker."

"WHAT?!"

She rushed back inside and came out moments after in a half-sleeved beige shirt which wrapped tightly around her bosom, and a plaid brown skirt. The twins cocked their head to one side. "Yada," they intoned. "Now you look like our professor."

"I don't know why I'm even doing this!" she yelled, storming back inside.

But the twins knew. In fact, they'd been planning it for quite a while now; making calls, contacting the right people, buying stuff...they wanted everything to be perfect. Nothing had to go wrong, and for that, Haruhi had to find the right outfit. They had been entrusted with that mission.

"I'm not sure about this one..." she stammered.

She walked out wearing a dress of the palest pink. It was sleeveless, with spaghetti straps instead to hold the dress up. The fabric was gathered around at the below her torso, with a silk white ribbon to tie it round. It hugged her waist comfortably, and then flowed down and pooled around her feet. As an extra touch, Haruhi's hair was pulled back by a pink band. She looked adorable.

"We're taking it."

"But...but...I don't even need a dress!"

"You will soon enough, Haruhi-chan," Hikaru said, winking at her. "Trust us on this."

**

* * *

**

A/N: Done! What do you think the twins want the dress for? Any ideas? Ah, well, anyway, if you did like this, then would you please review? I've already planned the next two or three chapters, so I reckon I'll update more quickly next time. Until then, ja ne!

_- S. N. B. _


	12. Chapter 12

**D/C: I don't own Ouran High School Host Club.**

**Hello, all! Wow, it's been such a while since I last updated, eh? (hangs head) I won't even bother to make excuses now; it's just not worth your time, is it? (sighs) However, maybe since I'm slowly reaching an important point in my story, and I'm suddenly fueled by the 12 OHSHC manga volumes I finished in one sitting, maybe...just maybe I'll be able to update more sooner next time. **

**Anyway, thank you all for the nice reviews you've sent me on the last chapter, and for now, please enjoy this chapter.**

**Oh, and btw, if you're curious to as what I've been doing all this time, feel free to check my homepage and you'll know the answer. (bows herself out)**

**Working for the Hitachiins**

**Chapter 12:**

No matter how much he tried to ignore it, the silence in the room was starting to weigh heavily on Kaoru's shoulders. He shuffled his feet and folded his arms across his chest, all the while trying to avoid looking at the girl sitting on the bed in front of him. They had been like this for the last half an hour, ever since Hikaru had locked the two of them inside Haruhi's room. Of course, Kaoru knew what that was all about, but Haruhi was apparently clueless, and by the looks of it, wasn't very pleased.

"So?" she finally spoke up. "What are we doing here exactly?"

Kaoru tried to look politely puzzled. "What do you mean, Haruhi-chan? We're obviously spending some quality time together!" he exclaimed.

"In my bedroom?" she demanded.

"You have a very nice bedroom," he remarked. "It has such a pleasant aura. The pink is so soft on the eyes."

Haruhi was not buying it. She scowled at him. "Kaoru, there's something that you and Hikaru are hiding from me," she retorted. "There's a reason why you won't let me outside my room, and that tells me it's got something to do with me." She paused a moment. "You...haven't invited my father over again, have you?"

Kaoru shook his head. "No, he's not here," he replied.

"So, what is it?" she demanded, starting to lose her patience.

"Come now, Haruhi-chan, you don't want to spoil the surprise, now, do you?" he said, smiling and she opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off saying, "I know you generally do not like surprises, but it's okay to have one every once in a while, ne?"

"I hardly see how it could be a surprise now that I know that there's a surprise," she pointed out.

Kaoru faltered a moment. "Yes, well...um, but you don't know what sort of surprise it is! So you will be rather surprised when you see what it is!" he said hurriedly, and Haruhi sighed. "So, until Hikaru releases us, try not to complain too much."

She scowled at him. "And what should we do until the time comes when he does that?" she asked.

"Talk," Kaoru said gently, and proceeded to sit down next to her, but quickly jumped back up again as the memory of that stormy night invaded his mind. Trying not to blush, he instead settled down on the floor in front her, his legs stretched out before him. "You know a lot about us, Haruhi-chan, but we don't know much about you. You never tell us anything. Is it because you don't trust us yet, or what?"

"Just for the record, I never ask you to tell me anything, you just sort of spill everything out," she told him.

After a few months, Kaoru was still not used to how tactless Haruhi could be. "You don't want us to tell you anything, then? You're not interested in knowing about us?" he prompted her.

"Don't put words in my mouth, Kaoru-sama; that's not what I said," she said wearily. "I mean, of course I would like to know more about you, but I would never go and ask a person outwardly to tell me about themselves. Maybe they're not comfortable with opening their lives before others, maybe they've got something they'd like to keep hidden..."

"So, basically, _you're _calling _us _tactless," Kaoru mumbled, hugging his knees to his chest.

There was a momentary silence in the room, in which Kaoru fidgeted ever so slightly, mulling over Haruhi's words - could there be something _she _wanted to keep hidden? Haruhi suddenly spoke up, and his questions were forgotten.

"I...I like to cook," she announced. She waited for Kaoru to make a comment, but to his credit, he didn't. "My mother died when I was still a little kid, so I've had to learn how to cook at an early age. My dad couldn't do the cooking since he was always busy with his work. At first I thought it was a hassle; I had to go through the recipes mum left me and read her tiny handwriting, and then I had to find the ingredients and make the meal...and sometimes it would turn into such a giant mess. But, later on, when I saw how happy it made my dad that I was cooking for him, I started to feel happy as well, because I was able to help dad through cooking...and I've always like to cook ever since."

Kaoru smiled. "How...how was your mother like?" he asked her.

Haruhi's expression softened. "My mother was wonderful," she answered. "She was a very cheerful woman, and very optimistic. She was a lawyer, you know, and she was very good at what she does. I want to be a lawyer like her; that has always been my wish. Dad and I miss her terribly...she was such a bright spot in our lives."

"I'm sorry; I shouldn't have asked you about her," Kaoru said quietly.

She shook her head. "Don't be; I'm always happy to talk about my mother," she replied. "How else can you remember people if you don't keep talking about them?"

"Yeah..." he agreed. "Do you have a picture of her?"

"Of course," she replied. She pulled open the drawer of her bedside cabinet and took out a small wooden frame. She stroked the picture for a moment, before turning to Kaoru. "This was taken a couple of days before she died."

She handed him the picture and Kaoru studied it for a moment; it was a picture of a woman with long brown hair, whose arms were wrapped around a little girl who could only be Haruhi. They were both smiling rather happily, and he shuddered to think that Haruhi's happy smile was replaced by sad tears two days later. It was impulsive; he couldn't help it, but Kaoru scrambled up to his feet and enveloped Haruhi in a brief, yet tight, hug. When he pulled away, she was looking perplexed.

"What was that for?" she asked.

Kaoru grinned. "It's for being the amazing person you are," he replied. She tilted her head to one side, apparently confused, so he hastily clapped his hands. "Right, so you know, Hikaru had other plans in mind when he locked me in here with you."

Haruhi looked wary. "_Other _plans?" she echoed.

"Yup," he said, and strode over to her closet. He pulled the doors open and peered inside. "Hmmm..."

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

Kaoru was now searching through the hanged clothes for something. "Where is it? Where is it? Ah!" he exclaimed, and to her horror, he pulled out the pale pink dress the twins had bought for her some time before. He grinned. "Let's get you changed into this."

"Why?"

"Because...according to your contract, you have to do anything we ask you to do," he said smugly.

"I'm not going to change into a dress because you asked me to! That's perverted!" she cried out in alarm.

He pouted. "Are you calling me a pervert?" he asked.

She glared at him. "No! I just meant that wearing that dress with no apparent reason is just plain suspicious!" she shot back.

"Oh, but there is a reason for it, Haruhi-chan, only you don't know about it," he said, a mischievous glint in his eyes. He advanced on Haruhi, the dress held out before him. "Now, be a good girl and wear it."

"I won't!" she snapped.

"Aw, come on, Haruhi-chan..."

"No, I won't wear it with you in the room! Are you stupid?" she shot at him.

Kaoru blushed. "Ah," he said, comprehension dawning upon him. He looked around helplessly. "Well, I don't know what to do...since we're locked in here..."

She grabbed the dress from him and hugged it to her chest. "Turn around, and don't you dare look until I tell you it's okay to look," she instructed him, and he nodded meekly. "Good, I'm glad we understand each other. Now, turn around and face the wall."

Kaoru did as he was told, and turned to face the wall. However, he soon discovered that he might have to block his ears as well, because the sound of rustling resulting from the act of Haruhi slipping out of her clothes was enough to give anyone ideas. He squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth. He tried to sing a song in his head, but it didn't help; his thoughts kept drifting back to Haruhi, and he had to muster a lot of self-control to stop him self from turning and gawking at her.

Finally, after a few minutes which had seemed like an eternity to Kaoru, Haruhi told him he could look. Even though he had seen her before in that dress, Kaoru still couldn't overcome the pleasant swooping sensation he got upon seeing Haruhi in that dress. She looked absolutely adorable. Pink suited her perfectly; it was a pity she didn't wear that color more often. He realized he was gazing openly at her, and he shook his head.

"You look lovely, Haruhi-chan," he said softly.

"Thanks, I mean...after all, you and Hikaru-sama got me this dress," she replied.

He had to fight the impulse to laugh; Haruhi could be so naive sometimes. He walked up to her and studied her from different angles. "You don't mind if I brush your hair and apply some make-up to your face, do you?" he asked her.

"Eh, go ahead; there's nothing else to be done, anyway," she said grudgingly, and looked pointedly at the door.

She was soon seated down on a chair before the dressing table, and Kaoru was gently running a comb through her soft brown hair, which he also noted that it smelled rather nice...sort of like lavender, mixed with nutmeg. He then pulled her hair away from her face with two silver clips decorated with little pink butterflies. Her face, he thought, was pretty as it is and didn't need a lot of make-up. He only ended up giving her lashes a brief stroke from the mascara brush, a quick brush of pink to her cheeks, and a gentle swipe of pale pink lipstick to her lips...those lips that Kaoru longed to kiss.

Those small pink lips were magnetizing for his eyes. He was only aware of himself leaning down towards her when there came a knock on the door, and he pulled back immediately. "Yes?" he croaked.

"Kaoru, all done?" Hikaru's voice wafted through the door. "Everything's ready on my end."

"Yes! All done. The princess is ready," Kaoru called back, and Haruhi started to say, "Prin-", but he cut her off. "Don't be impatient, Haruhi-chan. We agreed that you'll wait, right?"

"Right," she mumbled.

* * *

Haruhi found that she didn't have to wait long, though, for moments later, the twins, now wearing elegant suits, were both escorting her down one of the mansion's many corridors. She had an arm looped through Kaoru's right and Hikaru's left, and they were advancing slowly since she was finding it difficult to walk in the heels they had forced her into. She was rather curious about what the twins had in mind...and also worried that they might be trying to pull another trick on her. She was determined to stay on her guard.

But then again, what was with all the make-up and the dress and the fancy hair pins? She glanced up at the twins' faces and saw that they were gleaming with suppressed delight, and her anxiety mounted. What were they so happy about? This can't be good...

As they neared the door leading into the ballroom, she was able to sense the twins trembling ever so slightly. She was just about to voice her questions, when they halted before the door, forcing her to stop along with them.

She sighed. "What is going on with you two?" she demanded. "What is all this about?"

They didn't look at her, but they spoke together. "Haruhi-chan, you know how much we like you, and we decided to do something special for you just to prove it to you," they intoned. "We tried our best, and we hope you'll like our surprise."

Haruhi paused for a moment, and then she laughed. That seemed to aggravate them.

"O-oy! We're trying to be nice here!" Hikaru protested.

"Yeah! Why on Earth are you laughing?" Kaoru demanded.

Impulsively, Haruhi pulled them down and gave each a clumsy, one-armed hug. "You two are so silly," she admonished them. "You should have known by now that I don't give a damn about extravagancies. I'll settle for words...they leave a much more pleasant feeling."

They were silent for a moment, and then Hikaru spoke up again, "That's...good to hear, but...are you sure you don't want to be a part of your own..." he said, and he and Kaoru pushed the double doors open to reveal the spectacle behind them. "...birthday party?"

"SURPRISE!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARUHI!"

Haruhi stared in shock. In the huge, colorfully-decorated ballroom before her stood people she'd known all her life. Neighbors, family relations, high school friend, junior high friends...everyone was wearing party hats. There was a huge banner above their head emblazoned with gold letters which said, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HARUHI!!" She was shocked. She honestly couldn't believe she...

"I forgot my birthday?" she said in a hollow tone.

The twins laughed. "Yup, you did," they replied. "You got so absorbed with your work you forgot your birthday. Your father told us this would happen, and we acted accordingly."

Haruhi felt overwhelmed; she couldn't remember the last time anyone did something so nice to her. She smiled softly at them. "Thank you so much for this, both of you," she murmured. "I honestly don't know how to repay you."

"You don't have to worry about that _now_, Haruhi-chan," Hikaru said, grinning mischievously, and she wondered if she'd spoken too soon. "For now, just enjoy your party, and..."

They both bent down and planted a kiss on each of her cheeks. "Happy birthday," they said softly.

"Did you have to do that here?" she muttered, realizing that the people in the ballroom were watching them with interest. She wrapped her arms around herself. "Speaking of my father, where is he? He doesn't seem to be here."

"He said he got caught up with something," Hikaru replied with a slight frown. "But he should be here soon."

"Yes, he will. Until then, Haruhi-chan, you should enjoy your party," Kaoru said, giving her a gentle push into the room. "Look at all those people who came to celebrate your birthday. You must be excited to see them. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yeah...yeah, it's been a while."

Haruhi "mingled" with the crowds. She was quite surprised at the number of people the twins had managed to invite. She assumed it was by the help of her father, but it was still pretty amazing. She felt heart-warmed at the thought that the twins had gone through all this trouble just to throw her a birthday party. She really didn't give them their worth. Even when she was accepting gifts and good wishes from her friends, she kept glancing back at the twins, who were watching from the sidelines. She wondered why they weren't joining in, when they were usually the heart of every party.

She had barely reached them when her father burst in through the door. Ranka looked around frantically, and upon seeing his daughter, he rushed forward towards her. She hurried to meet him, with the twins close at her heels.

"Dad, hel..." she started, but his hands shot out and grabbed her shoulders. "Dad, what's wrong?"

"Haruhi, your university...the university you applied to..." he said hoarsely.

"What about it?" she said anxiously.

Ranka straightened up, and extracted an envelope from his pocket. He handed it to Haruhi, who quickly opened it and took out the folded up paper inside. With the twins standing behind her, the three of them quickly started to read. It was a few moments before anyone spoke.

"...I got my scholarship?" Haruhi whispered.

* * *

**A/N: Done! Ooh, cliffie! With the scholarship, Haruhi doesn't need to work anymore! What do you think will happen now? Well, to find out, you'll just have to read the next chapter, ne? Until then, please review!**

**Ja ne!**

_- S. N. B._


	13. Chapter 13

**D/C: I don't own Ouran High School Host Club.**

**Hello, all! I'm back with another chapter! I've decided to reserve this Friday for writing, as I'm going to be **_**extremely **_**busy in the next couple of weeks. Thank you all for the reviews you've sent me last time, and I know you'd like to know what's going to happen now, so I'll leave you to read. Enjoy!!**

**Working for the Hitachiins**

**Chapter 13:**

After the cake has been cut, the gifts opened and guests seen off at the door, the ballroom became eerily quiet. It still glittered with party decorations and sparkly confetti, but the atmosphere was no longer bright. While Ranka strolled about poking organizing his daughter's gifts in a neat pile and folding the gift wrap into perfect squares, Haruhi and the twins sat side by side on a couch, with Haruhi in the middle.

Her delicate fingers were clutching her scholarship letter; she hadn't let go of it from the moment her father had given it to her. The twins regarded the envelope with contempt, as if willing it to burn to ashes under their withering gaze.

Haruhi cleared her throat. "So..." she said conversationally."I think I'll just go to bed now. Thank you so much for the party; it was a very nice gesture." She attempted to stand up but the twins each placed a hand on her shoulders and forced her back on the couch. "H-hey!"

"We need to talk about this, Haruhi-chan," they said in unison.

She looked mildly surprised. "What is there to talk about?" she asked.

Hikaru reached out and tugged at the envelope in her hand, but she held on tight. He looked pointedly at her. "That's what's there to talk about, Haruhi-chan; your scholarship," he replied. There was a strange sensation travelling throughout his body; it felt heavy, and tired...and there was a sinking feeling in the pits of his stomach. "Your university scholarship."

"What about it? I thought you were happy that I got a scholarship," she replied.

"Don't play dumb with me, Haruhi-chan; you know perfectly well what I'm talking about," he said heatedly.

She looked defiantly at him. "No, as a matter of fact, Hikaru-sama, I do not know what you're talking about," she retorted.

"No? Well, fine, I'll tell you!" he snapped. "You just can't waltz into our lives all fresh-faced and starry-eyed, and then abandon us on the first opening! You have a scholarship now, and so you think you can finally quit this job and leave, don't you?"

"Hikaru..." Kaoru said, trying to calm him down.

"Well, yes, I don't have to work to earn tuition money if the board decided to give me a scholarship," she said.

"Think again, then! You can't leave this place; you are bound to us by a one-year contract, which clearly states that you can't leave or else you'll have to pay a penalty of 2000 dollars! Have you forgotten about that contract?" he demanded, looking rather triumphant. "You can't go anywhere until your contract finishes, and we've got a little more than eight months for that."

Haruhi was looking down at her lap now, and her body was trembling ever so slightly. Kaoru shot him an angry look, and Hikaru immediately regretted having been so aggressive. He reached out to touch her shoulder, but she was quick to slap it away. "Haruhi..." he said softly.

She glared at him. "You're so selfish, Hikaru," she said, all formalities forgotten, and he flinched. "You _know _I want to go to university. You know I want to finish my education, and all you can think of is your bloody contract. You know what I'm going to do, Hikaru? Do you? I'm going to break that contract. How much money have I already made? 1000, 1500 dollars? I only need to work a couple of extra weeks and I'll be able to pay that penalty. Take your money back; I really don't need it."

"Who's selfish?" Hikaru exploded.

"Hikaru, stop it!" Kaoru said urgently.

"Kaoru, you're as upset about this as I am, so don't act like a peace-maker," Hikaru said sharply.

"What do you mean, you're upset?" she demanded.

"Who's being selfish now?" he shot at her. "You obviously don't care about anything but yourself, Haruhi. You're just too happy to ditch us and go off to your university, you probably won't even pick up the phone to call us once you're gone."

Haruhi flushed. "That's not true!" she huffed. "I would call every once in a...!"

"Just like you call your father?" Hikaru challenged her, and she faltered. Ranka was standing a few feet away from the couch now; the angry voices had attracted his attention. "You don't even call your father often, and you expect me to believe that you're going to call us, who are not even family?"

Haruhi's shoulders shook. "What happens between me and my father is none of your business," she said. "My dad knows why I don't call him. He doesn't need an explanation from me. He knows it's for the best."

"Best for you or best for him?" Hikaru asked.

"Best for both of us!"

It was Ranka who spoke then. "Strange how you always seemed to know what's best for everyone without even asking, Haru-chan," he said softly. Haruhi met his gaze for the briefest of moments, before leaping up to her feet and hurrying out the ballroom. Ranka sighed and pushed back his hair. "Well, that's one birthday she won't forget in a hurry..."

Kaoru had got up to his feet, as well. "Shouldn't we go after her?" he asked anxiously.

"I'll go and talk her over," Ranka replied. "However, I wouldn't blame her too much, Hikaru-kun. My daughter has grown up thinking that she doesn't need anyone to carry on. She never depended on anyone, not even me. She doesn't need anyone's help or advice. That's why...she never calls me. She doesn't really need me; she's a strong woman, just like her mother."

Hikaru clenched his fists against his knees. "But _we _need her, Ranka-san," he whispered.

--

Haruhi threw herself on the soft bed and cried like she hadn't cried in ages. Her hands clutched the silk duvet covers and twisted them in her grip, while her tears soaked her pillow case. She let out quiet sobs which echoed in the quietness of her room. She didn't even know why she was crying; she never let her emotions get the better of her, but now...what was it? Hikaru's words, or else the hint of hurt in her father's eyes? Why did she feel like she did something wrong? She never did anything wrong, so why...?

She slowly sat up and hastily wiped her tears away from her eyes. Still, that didn't stop the trembling. She was shaking with silent anger. _How dare he, how dare Hikaru speak to me like that? So what if he's my boss? Aren't there employee rules which prevent such manner of speech? _

Her heart thudded painfully against her chest, and only went she raised her hand to place it against her heart did she realize that the letter was still clutched between her fingers, although it was horribly twisted and wrinkled at the moment. Panicked, she pulled the letter out of the envelope and hurried to her dresser and started smoothing it out frantically against the polished wood. When she was done, it was still a bit creased, but not too bad. She was able to read the content quite easily.

_"Dear Fujioka-san,_

_We are pleased to inform you that we've looked through your scholarship application and have found it quite excellent, and that's without mentioning the fact that you've aced all your entrance exams. We have never seen anything like this before, and we would be delighted to have a brilliant student such as yourself in our university, and for that, we shall offer you a full scholarship for as long as you stay with us._

_We won't convey more details here, because we look forward to meeting with you to have a little conversation. Should you still desire a spot with us, kindly reply to this letter as soon as possible so that we can arrange an interview. You'd do good not to stall as we would like you to start during the spring semester (that's one month from now), and if you do not accept this scholarship now, then we might have to pass it on to another student. _

_Thank you. _

_Have a good day! _

_Suzimiya Rika."_

It was a short letter, but quite to the point. It told Haruhi everything she wanted to hear...and didn't want to hear. She wanted to hear that she'd accepted her scholarship, but she didn't want to hear that she was going to have to start so suddenly and quickly. She hadn't admitted it in front of the twins, but she actually felt sad that she was going to have to leave them; in those past few months, they had become like a regular part of her life. Tear sprang to her eyes again, but she was quick to wipe them away when someone knocked at her door.

"Who is it?" she croaked.

"Haru-chan, it's me," came Ranka's voice. "Can I come in?"

Haruhi didn't really want to talk to her father right now, but she knew he wouldn't take no for an answer. "Okay," she replied.

Ranka pushed the door open and poked his head inside. He smiled cheerfully. "Well, this is the first time I've been in here," he said, stepping inside. "This house is so big you can't see everything in it even if you stay a couple of days."

Haruhi didn't say anything, and simply busied herself with toying with the bed sheets. She couldn't bring herself to look at him; what Hikaru said back in the ballroom...it was true - she never really bothered to call up her father, unless the twins pressured her to do it. When he plopped down on the bed next to her, she tried to get up and move away but the grip on her arm stopped her from going anywhere.

"Haruhi..." he said softly.

"I didn't do anything wrong," she said stubbornly.

Ranka sighed. "Don't be like that," he admonished her gently. "You know you hurt Hikaru back there. Weren't they always nice to you? Didn't they just throw you a birthday party tonight? Don't they deserve a tiny bit of recognition from you?"

"It doesn't matter; when it comes down to it, they're my bosses and I'm their maid," she retorted. "It will always be a business relationship. Once I leave the house, they'll just get a new maid and life will continue."

"You were always so naive, kid," her father said, sounding mildly amused. "A business relationship? Is that all what it looks to you?"

"Yes."

"I rather doubt it," he said, smiling, much to her bewilderment.

--

"Don't push it! I'll apologize! Stop pushing me!"

Ranka gave a snide little wave before turning and walking away. Haruhi was back in the ballroom, only this time she and Hikaru were the only ones there - Kaoru had gone off to sleep, leaving his brother in the spacious hall alone with his thoughts. He was now standing next to one of the windows, and he had his back to her. Haruhi felt disgruntled; she didn't want to apologize, but her father had promised her he wouldn't sleep over that night if she told Hikaru she was sorry. That was quite a good deal; what's a couple of words, anyway?

She cleared her throat as she approached him. She stood just a few feet away from him, and clasped her hands behind her back. "Hikaru-sama," she said loudly and clearly, but Hikaru ignored her. She scowled. "Well, I've just come here to apologize for being so impolite and angry with you earlier; it was not my place to do so. I'm sorry."

Hikaru didn't say anything even then, so Haruhi clenched her fists, but tried to remain calm. "If you won't be needing anything else, Hikaru-sama, I'll just leave to my room," she told him, and turned to head out through the door.

"You think an apology like that will solve everything?" Hikaru asked suddenly, and she froze in her tracks. "An apology doesn't change the fact that you're going to ditch us and go to your fancy university."

That remark jarred at her a bit; if anybody was going to a fancy university, it was the twins themselves. Nonetheless, she kept a level head and turned around again. "Hikaru-sama, people come and go, and I'm just a maid...and those come and go at a much quicker pace," she told him.

Hikaru turned to face her, his expression fierce. "Who's the maid around here?" he exploded. "You're not a maid! You were never a maid to me, or to Kaoru!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" she asked, loosing her cool quite so suddenly. "I am a maid; my contract says I'm a maid; all the employees and servants here say I'm a maid. You're just being ridiculous; I'm nothing more than a maid to you! Get over it! You'll just get a new maid and forget about me eventually!"

"I can't simply do that!" he shot back.

"Well, you're going to have to, because I'm going to leave soon!" she said heatedly.

"You can't leave! You can't because...I love you, you hear that? _I love you!_" he said angrily.

Haruhi was barely given a few moments to be surprised before Hikaru took her face between his hands and pressed his lips against hers in a fierce kiss, his mouth working furiously over hers. Shocked, the only thing that came to Haruhi's mind was to kick Hikaru's leg. He winced in pain, and bit on Haruhi's lips, but wouldn't release her from his grip. She thumped furiously at his chest, but he just snaked an arm behind her back and pulled her against him, while placing his other hand behind her head, pressing her lips more tightly to his.

However, Haruhi's real shock came when Hikaru's tongue slipped into her mouth and she found herself biting down on it...drawing blood. Hikaru yelped and pulled away from her then, his hand to his mouth. She backed away from him, cheeks flushed, chest heaving up and down.

"What the hell d'you do that for?" he demanded, his voice muffled.

She was tearful. "That's my line!" she shot at him. "What the hell was that..._kiss_ for?"

"Get this into your thick head, Haruhi, I. Love. You...and if I'm going to have to show that to you by brute force, then so be it," he hissed.

There was a momentary silence, in which both held each other's gaze. It was Haruhi who made the next move; she lunged at him, pushing him to the floor and fell sprawled on top of him. Hikaru was surprised, and opened his mouth to say something but Haruhi closed her lips upon his and her fingers ran through his hair, cutting off his words and stream of thought. All he could do was kiss her back with fervent passion.

Kaoru stood by the ballroom's door, secluded in the shadows, watching silently as the tangle of limbs moved frantically against the marble floor.

-

**A/N: Let's just get this one thing clear: Haruhi and Hikaru are **_**not **_**having sex. They're just in the middle of a furious make-out session, that's all; I would never write sex scenes. Ever. And Kaoru is not a pervert for watching them, he's just…shocked. So, anyway, that adds to the drama, eh? Who expected things to turn out like this? Anyway, if you did like this chapter, could you review? I'm waiting to hear your feedback!**

_- S. N. B. _


	14. Chapter 14

**D/C: I don't own Ouran High School Host Club. Wish I owned the twins, though.**

**Hello! So, after going through many, MANY pages of Ouran pictures on Photobucket, I got motivated to start working on my next chapter. It's always like that with me - the other day I spent four hours looking at chocolate pictures, and I ate a LOT of chocolate bars after that. Anyway, thank you all for the reviews! I noticed there were many people concerned with Kaoru's fate. Hehe. Anyway, how can you be so sure that Haruhi won't pick him in the end, eh? (winks) But for now, I'll leave you so you can read, okay? Enjoy!!**

**Working for the Hitachiins**

**Chapter 14: **

It was as if her mind had been blank for the last few minutes, and it suddenly jolted out of its reverie. Whatever it was, it made Haruhi pull away so sharply that hers and Hikaru's lips made a horrible sound, like a plunger being pulled out, as they parted. Since the pair's limbs were all tangled up from the furious "wrestling match" they'd been having on the ballroom's marble floor, she found it difficult to scramble away, and this gave Hikaru the chance to pull her face towards him again.

As his lips trapped hers into another passionate kiss, her mind started to drift back into blankness again, and she was just starting to melt against him again when her mind gave another jolt of awareness and she pushed herself away from Hikaru, pressing her hands against his chest as she struggled to get up into a sitting position. Hikaru, still rather dazed from kissing Haruhi, didn't quite get the hint and his fingers clutched the front of her dress as he attempted to draw her fragile body back into his straddling arms again.

"No!" she hissed, slapping his hand away.

Hikaru looked stunned. "Haruhi, what...?" he demanded.

"Just..." she muttered, struggling to untangle herself from him and successfully managing to scramble away."...don't touch me, please."

Propping himself up on his elbows, Hikaru pushed himself into a sitting position. "_Don't touch me_?" he repeated, sounding amused. "I'm sorry, Haruhi, but weren't you the one who tackled me first and started kissing me?"

Haruhi was nervously smoothing down her dress and covering up her legs which had become exposed at some point during their make-out session. "Well, y-yes, that's true, but..." she said defensively."I...I didn't know what I was doing and-"

"Didn't know what you were doing?" he demanded, now upright. He looked slightly angry. "So you didn't know what you were doing when you unbuttoned halfway down my shirt? You didn't know what you were doing when you nipped at my neck? You didn't know what you were doing when you slipped your tongue into my mouth? You didn't know what you were doing when you confidently guided my hand to the zipper on your back?"

Haruhi flushed. She only just realized that her back was bare, and she hastened to cover herself up. In all honestly, everything Hikaru was saying was true, but she really didn't know what made her do all these things. She had never allowed a boy to touch her like that, but when the two of them were fighting, she felt a sudden overwhelming attraction to him which she couldn't resist. This was probably the first time she'd made-out with someone, and maybe she'd been hungry for someone to touch her...still, that didn't make the situation any more better.

"N-no, I did know..." she said hoarsely, trying not to be distracted by Hikaru's exposed chest.

"Then why are you acting like I've harassed you?" he said angrily.

"I'm not acting like you've harassed me!" she cried desperately, tears welling in her eyes.

"What is it then? Didn't you want me to kiss you?" he snapped. "Don't tell me you didn't enjoy that, because I know you did! Everything, starting from the way you were kissing me to the way you were clawing at my chest told me you enjoyed it and you wanted more out of it! And we'd have probably moved this to the bedroom if you hadn't pulled away!"

Haruhi covered her ears. "No! Please! Hikaru-sama!" she pleaded.

Hikaru was on his feet now, and he towered over her. She didn't dare look up at him, but she felt his eyes boring into the top of her head and a shudder ran up her spine. "What is wrong with you, Haruhi-_chan_?" he snapped, and she gulped at the way he pronounced the honorific. "Weren't we snogging happily just a moment ago? Why the sudden change of heart? _Look up at me; _this is an order."

She gulped; she couldn't remember the last time one of the twins had given her an order, but she obediently looked up into his face. "I'm so sorry, Hikaru-sama," she choked, the tears streaming down her face. She was feeling rather dirty and indecent. She felt like she had violated and stamped down on Hikaru's feelings. She was a horrible person. "I'm sorry..."

He sighed wearily. He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and leaned down to dry her face, but she flinched. He looked frustrated and he threw the handkerchief into her lap. "I didn't do anything onto you!" he said hotly. "You're the one who made the initiative, so don't pretend like it's my fault!"

He stormed away from her, leaving her alone in the vast ballroom, rocking backward and forward on the cold floor, the tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

-

Hikaru was still trembling as he strode away from the living room. A million emotions were invading him; fear, anger, anxiety, excitement, happiness...but he didn't know which feeling he should be giving the priority to. He considered going back to the ballroom, taking Haruhi into his arms and comforting her, but he knew she'd push him away, and he didn't want to deal with rejection again.

He hated to admit it, but Haruhi had rejected him. The kissing and the hands and the flying limbs...it was all just a sexual whim. Haruhi didn't really care for him; she just wanted to have a go at his body. Only she realized what she had been doing and broke the connection. Hikaru wondered what could've happened if they had continued to kiss. He definitely recalled that they had both started to undress each other. Maybe it was the sound of the zipper that woke Haruhi up, he didn't know. He only knew that he felt crushed.

He wanted to go to Kaoru. Kaoru would comfort him without needing to know what was wrong. Kaoru's love for him wasn't sexual; Kaoru loved him as a brother and a best friend. He knew him like no other. He hurried to their bedroom, and threw the door open.

"Kaoru!" he exclaimed, but to his dismay, he found that Kaoru wasn't there. He frowned. Didn't Kaoru say he was going to bed? Where was he now? He felt a bit uneasy; could Kaoru have seen what he and Haruhi had been doing?

Immediately, he was gripped by panic. He ran towards the phone and dialed up the shortcut number which rang up the servants' quarters. Immediately, it was picked up. "I can't find Kaoru! Have a search party sent out immediately! Search the house and the grounds. He couldn't have gone very far!"

He hung up and started to pace, feeling at loss. He didn't know if he was being rash or not, but for some reason, he felt extremely worried. He dashed out of the room and out into the hallway. Two maids rushed past him, walkie-talkies in their hands. He gulped and trailed after them. He wondered what he should be doing now. Where should he look for Kaoru? Where could his brother have gone? What could he be doing right now at this particular moment?

_Haruhi. _

Should he alert Haruhi of this? Kaoru was her friend, too, wasn't he? She would want to know if he was in trouble. He bit down on his lip; but how was he supposed to walk up to her and talk to her normally as if nothing had happened? He couldn't do that. He doubted things would ever be normal between him and Haruhi.

He grabbed the arm of a passing male servant. "I want to find Haruhi Fujioka and inform her that Kaoru might be missing," he said sharply. The servant nodded vigorously, and Hikaru released his arm. "Good. You may go now."

Hikaru still couldn't figure out what he should be doing. The servants knew the house better than he did, and he doubted there would be places where he could go and look that they didn't check out already. Feeling rather miserable, he returned to his room and strode over to the bathroom. He pulled away the curtains of his bathtub and settled down in it, closing the curtains around him again.

It felt like both his ship and lifeboat had deserted him.

-

**A/N: Yeppers, I'm done for this chapter. I know, I know, very short, eeeeeeeeeeevil cliffhanger, BUT it was a quick update, wasn't it? (grins) Anyway, I hope you did like this one, because reviews are very much appreciated! Not to mention that they would make me update quite faster. (hint, hint) Thanks for reading!**

**Ja ne!**

_- S. N. B. _


	15. Chapter 15

**D/C: I don't own OHSHC. **

**Hello! I'm back with a new chapter! I thought it would be too evil to leave you guys waiting any longer with the cliff-hanger I gave you last time, so I'm updating soon! Thank you all for the lovely reviews you've sent me! I'm past 400! **_**squee!! **_**So, anyway, without further ado, I'll present to you chapter 15! Enjoy!**

**Working for the Hitachiins**

**Chapter 15: **

"Hitachiin Kaoru-sama is missing!"

Haruhi had been walking quietly down the corridor, running a hand across the wall for support. After Hikaru had left, she had stayed in the ballroom for a few moments, tossing things about in her head. She was still wondering what had possessed her to do what she did. It wasn't like her. She wasn't the type to jump on boys and kiss the living daylights out of them, so why Hikaru? What was so special about him? And she'd been living in the same house for a few months now, so why...?

However, when the maid crossed her path and told her that Kaoru was missing, all thoughts were wiped clear out of her mind. Never mind that her eyes and lips were puffy and her cheeks were tear-stained, she stared aghast at the maid. "He...he what? Who told you that?" she croaked.

The maid was clutching a stitch at her chest; it looked like she'd been running. "Hitachiin Hikaru-sama told me to find you and tell you that," she said breathlessly. "He's told everyone to run a search party for him. He looked really worried."

Haruhi felt bewildered - Kaoru, missing? How was that possible? Where could he have gone? He was just with them a couple of hours ago. She blinked several times. "And where is Hikaru-sama right now?" she asked. She needed to see him and find out what was really going on.

"I left him by his bedroom," the maid replied.

"Alright, thanks. Keep on looking," Haruhi said hastily, before hurrying off down the corridor to the twins' bedroom.

Many thoughts were running through her head, and for some reason, she was feeling rather anxious. Kaoru was the level-headed twin, so the fact that he had gone missing was rather unsettling. As she ran, she passed many frantic-looking servants down the hallways and corridors. All of them were talking rapidly into their walkie-talkies, and she caught snatches like, "Hitachiin-sama is not in the south-eastern wing!", "Have you looked in the northern wing?"

_Kaoru-sama, where __**are **__you? _

She didn't bother knocking at the door upon reaching the room. She turned the knob and walked purposefully inside. She looked around the dark room for Hikaru's shock of reddish-brown hair, or the glint of his honey-colored eyes, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Hikaru?" she called out, and paused. "Hikaru-_sama_, where are you?"

She surveyed the room with her eyes for a while, but she still couldn't find him. She was about to turn and leave when she glimpsed the door of the bathroom. With sudden inspiration, she marched towards it and threw the door open. She heard someone sobbing softly, and upon closer inspection, she saw a shadow behind the curtains of the bathtub.

She rolled her eyes. "How very mature," she muttered.

"Go away, Haruhi," he said hoarsely.

Haruhi closed the door and leaned against it. She folded her arms across her chest. "Are you just going to sit there and mop about it?" she admonished him. "Why don't you go and look for Kaoru, too? And how do you know he's missing, anyway?"

"I know, I just _know_," he muttered.

"Well, go out and look for him!" she cried. She didn't know where this sudden boldness was coming from; wasn't she having trouble talking to him less than half an hour ago?

"You don't understand," he snapped. "You don't know what it's like!"

Haruhi moved forward and pulled the curtains apart. Hikaru was sitting there, his arms hugging his knees to his chest. He had his head bent down, but he looked up when she drew the curtains away. She sighed when she saw that he was crying. She knelt down next to the tub.

"Hikaru..."

He looked away from her. "You don't know half of what's going on," he muttered.

"Tell me then," she said. "You and Kaoru always tell me things. Tell me what's happening, and maybe I could help."

"Kaoru? Hikaru?" he mused. "You've become too casual..."

"I apologize for my rudeness, Hikaru-sama," she said promptly.

Hikaru snorted. "I was just pulling your leg, _baka_," he replied. "I think we're past the stage where honorifics are required."

Haruhi's cheeks warmed up a bit, but she didn't let it get the best of her. She wasn't here to discuss what had happened earlier; she was here to discuss Kaoru, and where he might be. "Alright then," she said. "You haven't given me a proper response, though; what's happening?"

"You're the last one who should be interfering, Haruhi," he retorted. "Go to your room and get some sleep. We'll have found Kaoru before the night is over; don't worry about him."

"Why shouldn't I be interfering?" she demanded. "I know you and Kaoru better than any of the other servants. If you could tell me the reason why Kaoru's gone, then I'm sure I might be able to help one way or another."

"Just drop it, Haruhi," Hikaru said impatiently. "The search party I sent out will find him."

"But I _want _to help," she insisted.

"Haruhi, please..." he said wearily. He reached out to try and pull the curtains around him again, but she pulled them out of his grip and looked sternly at him. "This really doesn't concern you."

"The way you're acting tells me otherwise," she said stubbornly.

"Look, do you want to know why I think Kaoru ran away?" he exploded, and she nodded, not flinching in the least. "I think he probably saw us making out in the ballroom, and that hurt his feelings, and so he ran away!"

She blinked. "Why would it hurt his feelings?" she asked, confused.

He stared, aghast, at her. "How dense could you get?" he wondered. "Kaoru loves you, you idiot! He's loved you for as long as I loved you, maybe even longer! I don't know what must've gone through his head when he saw us! He's probably crushed right now! God knows what he could be up to!"

"He..._what?_" she said blankly.

"He loves you. Period," he said wearily.

"But...but you-" she spluttered.

"Maybe being twins resulted in us having the same taste in women," he replied, and this time he didn't face any resistance when he tried to pull the curtains around him again.

Haruhi was left staring at the flowery pattern for a few moments, trying to digest what Hikaru had just told her. This was too much; she couldn't handle any more surprises tonight. First what happened with Hikaru, and now this...and let's not forget her birthday party and scholarship. She wondered for the briefest of moments if this was all a continuation of her birthday surprise, but even the twins wouldn't carry things this far, and the way she and Hikaru were kissing...it was real alright.

"Hikaru..." she said quietly.

"Why are you still here?" he shot at her. "Go! Leave me alone!"

Haruhi obliged. She stood up and left the bathroom. However, she didn't know where to go and she was feeling rather woozy, so she just slumped down on the twins' bed. She didn't know what to think - Kaoru loved her as well? How? And why? She never noticed anything...but then again, she hardly does notice _anything_. She wanted to talk to someone about this, but there wasn't anyone she could think of, except maybe...

She went for the phone in the twins' bedroom, and quickly dialed her father's cell phone number. He was probably on his way home right now, but maybe he saw Kaoru or something. She only had to wait a couple of rings before her father finally picked up.

"Haru-chan, darling! Missed me already?" he said cheerfully.

"I...dad, did you see Kaoru?" she asked.

"Kaoru? ...of course I did! I must say, he and Hikaru looked quite handsome at your party tonight!" Ranka chirped.

She sighed. "No, I meant, did you see him after the party? On your way out?" she asked.

"No, I'm afraid I didn't," he responded, sounding rather concerned. "Why? Is something wrong? Is Kaoru-chan missing?"

"Don't worry about it; everything's fine," she lied. She paused a moment. "Dad, I..."

"Yes?"

She couldn't talk to her dad about this; she just couldn't. "Nothing," she finally said. "I'll talk to you later. Have a good night."

-

Ranka replaced the cell phone back in his purse with a dejected sigh, before turning to meet the eye of the boy who had jumped up when the phone had rang and started making frantic gestures with his arms. He had subdued now, and was leaning against the seat of the taxi Ranka had called up earlier, his eyes closed.

"That was Haruhi," Ranka stated.

Kaoru sighed wearily. "I gathered," he whispered, without opening his eyes.

Ranka had gone back to Haruhi's room to pick up his purse and on his way to the front door he passed the ballroom, only to find Kaoru rooted to the spot by the door. When he saw what was happening in there, he gently took the boy by the elbow and led him away, at which point Kaoru pleaded that he leaves with him. Ranka agreed when Kaoru promised to pay the taxi fare.

"What are we going to do about this?" Ranka questioned him. "I can't harbor your forever, you know."

"I know," Kaoru said dully.

"You have to tell Haruhi how you feel sooner or later," Ranka continued.

"I...what's that supposed to mean?" he yelped.

"Let's talk when we get to my place," Ranka said casually, and spoke his next words loudly, "Because apparently some people can't stop sticking their ears where they don't belong!"

The driver twitched, and Ranka gave a smug grin. Normally, Kaoru would've laughed, but he wasn't in the mood for that now. His thoughts kept drifting to the scene he'd come upon on the ballroom. The sight of Haruhi kissing his brother had left them paralyzed and confused. He could honestly say that he hadn't seen that coming. He was only going to check on Hikaru and call him to bed, but...

He felt a burning sensation in the corners of his eyes, and he struggled to fight it. It wouldn't do him any good to cry in front of Ranka. He rested his forehead against the cool surface of the glass window, and gazed out at the passing buildings and houses. Part of him wished he had stayed home and pretended that nothing happened, but the other part of him knew that that wasn't possible. He could never act normally around Hikaru and Haruhi after what he saw.

He was so preoccupied; he didn't even notice that they had reached the neighborhood where the Fujiokas stayed until Ranka squeezed his shoulder gently. "We're here, kid," he told him.

"Oh, right," Kaoru said absently. He leaned forward to talk to the driver, while trying to extract his wallet out of his back pocket at the same time. "Do you accept credit cards?"

It was a lot less conscious Kaoru that Ranka dragged up to his house. He unlocked the door and walked inside, muttering under his breath, "Credit cards, he says! _Credit cards! Kami-sama_, what have I done to deserve to be stuck with a hopeless case like him? Credit cards, I tell you! The driver looked ready to clobber us!"

Kaoru was still slumped against the wall next to the door, and seemed ready to stay there if Ranka hadn't barked at him from inside the house, saying, "Come in and close the door, or else the ticks won't let me sleep tonight!"

Obediently, Kaoru closed the door. He slipped out of his shoes and walked inside. Even though he was troubled, he still found time to marvel at how small the Fujioka house was. _Wow, Haruhi and her father live here? It's tiny! _He didn't dare mouth it, though, and just trudged into the room where a low wooden table and cushions were laid on the floor. He slumped down on one of the cushions and folded his arms against the table. He buried his face between his arms until Ranka returned and prodded him.

"Ranka-san, please, I don't want to talk about it," he mumbled, looking up a bit.

He plopped down on a cushion across the table from him, and opened what looked like a can of cold tea. He took a long swig and then regarded Kaoru with narrowed eyes. "So you're just going to sit there and mop about it?" he demanded. "Face it, kid, you're going to have to deal with it sooner or later, and I advise you to do so now."

"What do you want me to say?" Kaoru cried.

"I don't want you to say anything, because it's quite obvious how you feel; you'd have to be extremely stupid not to know what's going on," Ranka said. "Of course, my daughter's quite stupid when it comes to these things, so it might not have been that obvious to her."

"Then what do you call what we saw in the ballroom?" Kaoru exploded. "It looked to me that Haruhi knew perfectly well what she was doing!"

"No, she didn't," Ranka said quietly. "Never for a moment did I think that Haruhi knew what she doing, even after I saw her kissing Hikaru. That's not the way Haruhi expresses her feelings. She's not much of a physical person. I don't know what happened to her in the ballroom, but I can assure you she wasn't acting upon her feelings. If it was so, then she wouldn't have called to ask me about you. I know I wouldn't leave the company of my man to go and check up on his brother."

Kaoru fell silent, and Ranka took another swig of his can. Neither of them said anything for a while, but then Kaoru straightened up and pushed his hair away from his eyes. He clenched and unclenched his fists against the table.

Ranka raised an eyebrow at him. "Well?" he prompted him.

"Ranka-san, I love your daughter," Kaoru said firmly.

He rolled his eyes. "Tell me something I don't know," he said, sounding irritated. "What are you going to do about it?"

There was a knock at the door. Frowning, Ranka set his can down on the table and got up to his feet. Kaoru remained in his place, mulling things over in his head, but when Ranka opened the door and Kaoru realized who it was; he felt the hairs on his back prickle.

"Why didn't you tell me, dad? The guards at the door told me they saw someone in the car with you! Why didn't you tell me you've taken Kaoru with you?" Haruhi protested. It seemed that she didn't even want to give him a chance to reply. "Move away. Let me go in."

Kaoru scrambled up to his feet the moment she stepped into the room. "Haruhi..." he said softly.

The look on Haruhi's face was indistinguishable. She took a couple of steps towards him, and he held his breath, wondering what was going to happen next. Of course, he really didn't see that slap coming...

-

**A/N: Done! Just a lil' bit more and you'll be done with me for good! Did you like chapter 15? Did I write everyone well enough? I always tend to exaggerate a bit when it comes to dramatic scenes, but I just can't help it! Anyway, please review! And wait for my next chappie! Thanks!**

_- S. N. B. _


	16. Chapter 16

**D/C: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club.**

**Goodness, it's been AGES since I last updated. I have a feeling you're all quite angry with me right now, eh? Yes? I thought so. Hmmm...let me try and figure out who was to blame this time. Oh! My exams, of course! I had my final exams, and I was absolutely swamped! You don't expect me to update when I'm supposed to be studying for such important exams, right? Oh, and I was managing my fanfiction site! You can check it out my homepage to have a look. Anyway, I'll leave you to read now, okay? Enjoy!**

**Working for the Hitachiins**

**Chapter 16:**

Kaoru's cheek tingled.

He stared at Haruhi in shock, standing there with her hand raised. He certainly hadn't seen that slap coming. He wasn't even emotionally prepared for it. What was wrong with a good, friendly hug? Or an awkward handshake? Why did it have to be a slap?

"Haruhi..." he whispered, touching his cheek. "_Itai!_"

Haruhi scowled at him. "That's what I was aiming for," she snapped. "Serves you right if it hurts, _baka. _Do you have any idea how worried we were about you?"

"We?" he repeated, hand still over his cheek.

"Yes, _we!!_" she confirmed. "Hikaru and I, and everyone else in the manor. We were worried out of our wits' end because you'd disappeared so suddenly and without a word! But, of course, you didn't think before you ran away, did you? You didn't bother to imagine the state of anxiety everyone was going to be in when they learned of your disappearance! At least give us some form of warning when you attempt something like that again!" She massaged her forehead. "God, you're so selfish, Kaoru."

Kaoru let his hand drop to his side. He clenched his fists. "Who's selfish, _ahou_?" he muttered.

"Excuse me?" Haruhi didn't know if she'd heard clearly; did Kaoru just call her "ahou"? He never called her that! And why was everyone calling her selfish?

"Hikaru was right, after all. You are selfish." He turned away from her and resumed his position at the table. He didn't even spare her the briefest of glances when he spoke up next. "We like you, Haruhi, but you don't care about anyone. You say you do, but once you leave you forget about them. You cut them out of your life like they never even existed. Take your father for example."

"Will you and Hikaru stop talking about my father?" she said, her eyes flashing. "You know nothing about him!"

"We know enough, Haru-chan," he replied. He waved a careless hand. "And that's not even the point! You do that with everyone! You know, all those people who were at your birthday party, they were so excited to see you; they told us they haven't even talked to you ever since you came to work for us. You don't know the effect you have on everyone, Haruhi...when people meet you, they can't help but like you. You immediately own a place in their hearts and minds, a place which nothing could erase. You can't walk in and out of people's lives so easily. You can't expect people to move on if you go."

"Don't be ridiculous, Kaoru," she scoffed. "I'm not that important."

"You don't give yourself enough credit, kid," he mused.

She rolled her eyes. "What does that have to do with anything, anyway?" she demanded.

"It's got everything to do with anything!" he exploded, and paused. "That made no sense, but what I meant to say is that...we'll miss you if you leave. Can't you stay?"

"Kaoru, I've been waiting all my life for this," she said wearily. "You don't know what it's like to work so hard to get something that you couldn't have otherwise, and I've been working too hard. This has been my dream and it still is and I just can't give it up just because you want me to."

"We'll make it up for you! If you decline that scholarship, we'll find you a place in our university. We have so many contacts, we might even get you a scholarship there! And you could continue to stay with us and..." he rambled.

"Kaoru, Kaoru, things don't work out that way! You're using to getting everything you want, but I don't belong to you! You can't just plan everything for me and expect me to go along with it," she cut him off. "This university happens to be the one which graduated some of the best lawyers here in Japan. I wouldn't give it up for anything."

"But..."

"And you can always call me or come to visit," she continued. "Knowing you two, you probably won't leave me alone. So it wouldn't be too different...I just won't be living with you anymore. And you know, Kaoru, I was going to leave eventually, so this is for the best...me leaving early on in the year."

"Why do you insist on making things so difficult?" he cried, throwing up his arms in exasperation.

"When you explain why you're so insistent on me staying with you, then I'll explain why I'm so difficult...and don't tell me it's because you'll miss me," she added when he opened his mouth. He clamped it shut and looked stoically ahead. She sighed. "Hikaru told me."

He looked up sharply. "What did Hikaru say?"

Haruhi hesitated. She averted Kaoru's eyes. "Never mind. It's not all that important," she said in an undertone.

Kaoru stood up. "No, what did Hikaru tell you?" he demanded. "I didn't think you'd have time to talk when you were too busy trying to get into each other's clothes."

He decided he needed to improve his reflexes...and watch his tongue.

"_Itai! _Haruhi, this is the second time in less than five minutes!" he protested.

She glared at him. "Well, maybe you should pay attention to what you say and do from now on," she hissed. She took in a deep breath. "So...I gather you've been watching us."

Kaoru rubbed his cheek. "It's not like I chose to watch you," he mumbled. "I was coming after Hikaru and the two of you were just there...kissing."

Haruhi flushed. "It's not what it seems," she said, her voice barely audible. She wringed her hands together. "I don't know what happened, Hikaru and I were just talking...well, arguing was more like it, and the we-"

"Haruhi, you don't need to explain yourself. You chose Hikaru, that's fine," he interrupted her. "I guess...finding the two of you making out on the ballroom floor wasn't really the way I'd wanted to find out and so I ran away to avoid it...but it's cool. I know you and Hikaru will be happy together."

She stared at him, and Kaoru wondered if he was going to have to brace himself for another slap, but then the corners of her mouth twitched and she burst out laughing. He stared at her, flummoxed. He couldn't begin to see what was so hilariously funny about their current situation, but he waited politely for her to stop and catch her breath.

"You sound like you're sending me off to be married! Don't do that; it's my dad's job to do so!" she exclaimed. "And what's this crap about me choosing Hikaru? I chose no-one."

"But you _kissed _him!" he persisted.

"So?"

Kaoru looked exasperated, but he let it drop. He shoved his hands inside his pockets. "You didn't say what Hikaru told you," he reminded her.

"Kaoru, it's really not important," she said hastily.

"If it's not important, then I don't see why you would refuse to tell me what he said," he responded.

"Kaoru..."

"Haruhi, just tell me."

She met his gaze. "Is it true that you...?" She stopped and swallowed. "Hikaru said that you love me." Kaoru was silent and she gave a quick laugh. "But you love me a sister or a good friend, don't you? I mean, the two of us have never had any sort of romantic feelings, have you?"

Kaoru didn't say anything.

Haruhi's fists were clenched. "Kaoru...why aren't you saying anything?"

--

Hikaru had climbed out of the bath tub. He was now standing on the floor next to his bed, tossing his cell phone from one hand to the other. He had heard that Haruhi had managed to find Kaoru. The servants had come and asked if he wanted to come along to fetch Kaoru, but he refused. So he just sat there, waiting for them to return.

He wondered what Haruhi and Kaoru were talking about right now. He had told Haruhi that his brother loved her; could she possibly be confronting him at the moment? What was Kaoru saying? Were they kissing right now? Did he mind? Haruhi didn't like him in a romantic way, so was it alright if she shared those feelings with his brother? Would he be jealous?

Hikaru hated to think about it.

But part of him didn't want Kaoru to mess things up. Part of him wanted Kaoru and Haruhi together so that she would stay with them. Even if she didn't like him the way he wanted her to, he wanted to continue seeing her everyday.

He decided he couldn't trust Kaoru not to mess things up. He flipped his phone open and dialed an extension in the mansion. "Get the second limo ready. Immediately."

--

**A/N: Done! Oooh, lots of things are going to happen in the upcoming chapter, eh? Sorry for such a mean cliffhanger, but I'll try to update sooner next time! Until then, please review! Thank you!**

_- S. N. B. _


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I don't own Ouran High School Host Club.**

**Howdy! Well, I was so determined not to write this in the long run, especially after my computer shut down on its own while I was writing and I lost everything I wrote - two glorious pages gone...somewhere! I was so upset! But after my friend gave me some virtual chocolate, I thought I'll give it another shot. sighs After all, I couldn't make you nice readers wait any longer, eh? XD Onto the story, then. Enjoy!**

**Working for the Hitachiins**

**Chapter 17:**

"Haruhi, I..."

Kaoru faltered. He really didn't know what to say. If he told Haruhi that he loved her like a sister, then he may lose his chance with her for good. But if he told her that he liked her, then she would...he wondered what she'd say. Would she reject him? Kaoru didn't think he'd be able to deal well with rejection. He actually felt rather scared.

Her fingers slipped through his hand and he looked at her, startled. She was looking earnestly at him, as if reassuring him that whatever his response might be, the two of them will still be okay. Her smile was gentle, her expression warm and welcoming...Kaoru found himself squeezing her fingers ever so slightly, before raising them to his lips and planting a tender kiss against her knuckles. Haruhi gazed at him with open wonder. She then tried to tug her hand away and he quickly let go.

She turned away from him, and he was able to see her hands twisting nervously behind her back. He wanted to touch her shoulder, but he felt apprehensive - what if she slapped his hand away or yelled at him or something? He reached out for her, but quickly let his arm drop back to his side. He brushed past her and made his way to the kitchen.

"I'm going to make some tea," he announced.

"Tea?"

Kaoru started opening overhead cabinets as he searched for a kettle and the tin containing tea. "When I was younger, my uncle died," he told her. "My father was quite upset after his death and would always lock himself in study, only coming out from there to go to work. I didn't like seeing him that way, so I told my mother that I wanted to help. She suggested that I make tea for him; your father would be happy if you made him tea, she said."

He heard her footsteps behind him as she followed him into the kitchen.

"I didn't know how to make tea, however, so I used juice instead," he went on. "And I couldn't find a real tea set so I used Hikaru's set instead."

Haruhi giggled. "Hikaru had a tea set?" she inquired.

"Okay, let's be fair...it was mine and Hikaru's tea set," he replied with a quite chuckle. "I took a tray with the tea set and plastic scones to my dad's study. I couldn't knock at the door because I was holding the tray so I started kicking the door with my foot. My dad wouldn't let me in, though. My arms were growing tired and I was becoming cranky and I started to wail plaintively at my father's door. The servants tried to take me away but I wouldn't budge."

"Did your father let you in eventually?" Haruhi asked.

"Yeah...he told me later on that the only reason he let me in was because I was giving him a headache, but I know he wasn't able to hear me crying and not do anything about it," Kaoru answered. "The _tea _had gotten warmer by then and the scones hurt our teeth, but my dad was smiling the whole time. The next day he had lunch with us. From then on I was under the impression that tea made people feel better."

Haruhi laughed. "That's really funny," she remarked.

He looked around at her. Her nose was scrunched up as she laughed, and he thought she looked quite adorable. He smiled. "Would you like some tea, then?" he asked her.

She smiled at him. "Yes, I would like some tea," she replied.

"Alright then, one pot of tea coming up," he said cheerfully. He finally found the teapot and the tin. He had just taken them down from the cabinet and he felt arms wrapping themselves around his waist. "Haruhi?"

"Thank you, Kaoru."

--

Hikaru stumbled out of the limo the moment it halted before Haruhi's house. He climbed the staircase in a hurry, tripping a couple of times, and doubled over in front of the apartment door. He stopped for a moment to collect his breath, and then rapped his knuckles urgently against the door. When no one answered, he raised his fist to knock again. The door opened just then and Hikaru nearly punched Ranka.

"Watch the face!" Ranka hissed, backing away from him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to do that," Hikaru murmured, pulling back his fist.

Ranka felt his face, as if trying to see if everything was intact. Upon deciding that everything was fine, he placed his hands on his hips and frowned at Hikaru. "Well? What do you want?" he demanded.

Hikaru gulped. "Is Kaoru here?" he asked.

"Yes," Ranka drawled.

"And Haruhi?"

"Yep, she's here."

Hikaru took in a deep breath. "What are they doing?" he inquired.

Ranka looked back into the house for a moment before turning to Hikaru with a small smile. "Why don't you come and see for yourself?" he said softly.

Hikaru looked uncertainly at him. He wondered if Ranka was going to clobber him once he took a step inside - he certainly seemed the type to do so. But Ranka only smiled encouragingly at him so he walked inside. As he feared, Ranka grabbed him by his collar.

"I really didn't mean to do anything! I'm sorry!" he cried.

"What are you apologizing for, _baka_?" Ranka said irritably. "I just wanted you to take your shoes off before coming in."

"Oh."

Hikaru slipped out of his shoes. The first thing he noticed was how small the house was. He was already in the small kitchen, and there was a door that led into what seemed like a small living room. He guessed that Kaoru and Haruhi were sitting there. He wondered vaguely what the pair of them was doing. He didn't have to wait long to find out. He stopped by the door.

Haruhi and Kaoru were both sleeping, their heads resting on their arms, which were folded on top of the kotatsu, their heads slightly touching. A pot of tea was lying on the table along with two half-empty cups. It was a heart-warming image.

Ranka walked up behind him. "They look so sweet, don't they?" he whispered.

"Yeah, they do," Hikaru agreed. He tugged at the door, sliding it shut. "Let's leave them alone for now."

--

"Haruhi, do you have to leave?"

Haruhi was getting a headache. The twins have been on her case since the morning even though they were the ones who had said she could stop working and move back to her own home, they were being extremely whiney about her leaving. They stood at her sides, complaining as she packed her suitcases.

"Please stay with us! You don't have to work, but please stay with us!" Kaoru moaned.

"Yes, do stay, Haruhi-chan!" Hikaru insisted.

"You guys...we already talked about this," she said wearily. She looked Kaoru in the eye. "I thought we agreed on what was going to happen."

Kaoru and Haruhi had returned to the Hitachiin mansion during the early hours of the morning only to find Hikaru curled up on the floor in the main hall. Apparently he had fallen asleep while waiting for them. Haruhi was suspicious, though, because Hikaru had bounced up to his feet that moment that Kaoru had prodded him. It was as if he'd pretended to be asleep the moment he'd seen their limo, but she didn't dwell on that...she was more worried that the twins may be stilted with each other, but she was glad when they hugged each other...as if nothing had happened.

Over breakfast they'd had a long and uncomfortable conversation...at least it felt uncomfortable to Haruhi. They were discussing Haruhi's scholarship and the place where she was going to be staying. They were also saying stuff like, "We both love Haruhi too much. This could be a problem" while looking pointedly at her as if expecting her to choose between them then and there. The thing was, Haruhi wasn't even sure she liked them the way they wanted her to like them.

The twins were both special in their own unique way. They had wonderful traits for such spoiled brats, and she liked their company, but...

She'd excused herself from the table then and hurried to her room. She was closely followed by Kaoru, who spoke with her through the door.

"I'm sorry on mine and Hikaru's behalf," he had whispered.

"Whatever for?" she asked in a horribly hearty voice which didn't belong to her.

"For putting you in the position where we make you choose between us," he replied. "I know it must be a horrible situation to be in, and I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Kaoru, but I'd like to be alone right now," she said firmly, and Kaoru had apologized and left her alone.

She couldn't bring herself to tell him that she really didn't fancy him or Hikaru. Well...she did have physical attraction towards Hikaru, but not for Kaoru...which was strange, since they both looked exactly the same. She didn't know what she felt for Kaoru, though. He was definitely more gentle and sweeter than his brother, and he always seemed to understand her better and looked out for her the whole time, but...why did she feel like she had only sibling love for him? Was it even necessary that she chooses between them? Couldn't things stay just the way they were?

Haruhi wished there was someone she could talk to about the pickle she was in. She glanced at the phone that was resting on her bedside cabinet. After a moment she reached out and dialed a number. She rested the mouth piece on her ear and fidgeted while she waited for someone to pick up. The rhythmic ringing of the phone was beginning to drill a whole in her head when her call was finally answered.

"Moshi moshi," she said politely. "May I speak to Tamaki-senpai?"

--

Hikaru and Kaoru were sitting, side by side, on their bed. They were close together, but yet their shoulders were barely touching. Their posture was a little bit rigid and they looked stoically ahead, not daring to look the other in the eye. In the absence of Haruhi, the sense of comfort they had found in each other was now gone, and they were back to the awkwardness that they so dreaded. They were both waiting for the other to speak, to make the initiative...but at the same time, they were both too stubborn.

Hikaru heaved a sigh. "I...I was worried about you," he finally murmured. Kaoru didn't respond to that. Hikaru put his face between his hands and rested his elbows against his thighs. "When I was informed of your disappearance, I panicked. I thought I'd lost you, Kaoru. I felt like a part of me had died. I didn't know what to think or what to do...my mind was utterly blank."

Kaoru maintained his silence, but his hands were now clutching the bedspread.

"When Haruhi told me they'd found you, I was so relieved, but yet at the same time I was so weak," he went on. "I couldn't get myself to get up and go meet you along with Haruhi. I _wanted _to go, but I...couldn't. I'm so sorry, Kaoru."

Kaoru was startled. "Hikaru...are you crying?" he whispered.

"N-no, don't be silly," the latter said hoarsely. "I would never cry."

Kaoru moved his brother's hands away from his face and saw that indeed tears were rolling down his cheeks. He felt a lump rise in his throat and immediately pulled him into a tight hug. Tears welled in his eyes and he tried to fight them back. "Shhh, don't cry, Hikaru," he crooned to him. "I'm here now. It's okay. Everything's okay."

Hikaru held on to him. "What happened to us, Kaoru?" he asked. "We promised we'd never fight over a girl."

Kaoru sighed. "Haruhi's not any girl, Hikaru," he murmured.

They both knew that. They both knew that Haruhi was the first girl to come along and actually care about them for the people they were. She looked at them as two different individuals, and not one single entity. She understood them better than anyone else. Haruhi was special.

-

**A/N: Okay, so I stalled. One more chapter left to go...maybe also an epilogue, but that depends on my mood. Sorry to leave you on such a cliffhanger, but you must be used to it by now, eh? Hehe. I hope you still liked this chapter, though! Don't forget to review; I'd love to hear what you think!**

_- S. N. B. _


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: I don't own OHSHC. **

**Hello! Well, finally, after such a long wait, I come back with the final chapter of Working for the Hitachiins! I'm sure a lot of you are anxious to see who Haruhi is going to choose...if she chooses at all. Hehe. To be honest, I myself was having trouble deciding, until last night when I tried to work out the scenario in my head and managed to come out with a relatively good outcome. Anyway, I'm babbling. Have fun reading this chapter!**

**Working for the Hitachiins**

**Chapter 18:**

Her suitcases had been packed and were already taken and placed in the trunk of the limo that was going to drive her home. This was real. This was actually happening. Haruhi was really leaving, and nothing either of them seemed to do could change her mind.

Hikaru looked wistfully at her while she stood by the front door in her pale blue coat. If he could say one thing to her at the moment, it would be that she looked quite different from the Haruhi who came to work for them a few months ago. She looked more grown-up, more mature...she held herself differently now, and there was an air of definite sophistication about her. Yet at the same time she was still the same. She was the same innocent, bright-eyed Haruhi who had come into their room on her first day of work.

Kaoru stood at his side, and he could tell even without glancing at him that he was looking imploringly at Haruhi, willing her to stay with them. Hikaru groped the air for his brother's hand, and when he found it, he squeezed it gently. Haruhi, on the other hand, didn't appear to want to meet their gaze.

Her soft brown hair hung about her face and fell over her big eyes. It was as if she'd brushed it this way on purpose, to give her self the chance to avoid the twins altogether. Hikaru wouldn't have that; it wouldn't be a proper good bye if they didn't meet each other eye to eye. Releasing Kaoru's hand, he marched towards her, spit on his hand and used that to sweep her hair away from her face.

There was a pregnant pause in which nobody was even able to say anything. Kaoru's eyes were widened in shock and Haruhi's expression was totally unreadable. Hikaru appeared totally nonchalant as he shoved his hands back into his pockets.

Haruhi was able to regain her voice first. "Why the hell did you do that for?" she demanded, looking utterly disgusted. "I just showered and now I have your spit all over my hair!"

Hikaru shrugged. "You did that to me before, remember?" he questioned, but she just narrowed her eyes in confusion. "I was studying and my hair was all over my eyes, so you spit in your hand and pulled my hair back. Don't tell me you forgot. I made you wash my hair then."

He smirked when a blush crept up her already pink cheeks. He remembered that day all too clearly. When she smoothed back his hair he'd thrown a fit, lying on the floor and thrashing back and forth, while she stood above him rolling her eyes and telling him to grow up. When he seemed to ignore her completely, she'd yelled that she'd do anything to make up for the spit thing, at which point he'd sat up immediately and gave her an impish grin.

"Give me a bath," he had said.

To his dismay, half an hour later, Haruhi was still resolutely saying no. So he had to settle for her washing his hair over the sink. That had seemed like the best deal for her and she obliged quickly. She didn't know it, but having her gentle hands run through his hair and massage his scalp...it had made his legs buckle. It was good that he was already bending over the sink or else she'd have thought that something was strange.

She was huffing now. "That doesn't mean you could do it to me!" she protested.

"Oh, are you upset?" Hikaru teased her, and then Kaoru seemed to catch on and they both intoned, "Would you like us to give you a bath to make it up for you?"

"No!!" she exploded, her cheeks turning a deep shade of crimson. "Sheesh!"

There was a slight pause, and then the twins started to giggle. The pair of them clutched on to each other and laughed almost hysterically. Tears had sprung to Hikaru's eyes and he was struggling to fight them back. When he felt a certain wetness on his face, he thought he'd lost the battle...only to find that it was Kaoru who was crying. He held him even more tightly which caused Kaoru to cry more.

Then he felt another pair of arms around him and Kaoru as the warmth of Haruhi's body pressed against them. She brought her head so close to theirs that her forehead was touching Hikaru's and her nose was gently rubbing against Kaoru's. She was giggling incoherently, too, and her thin fingers clung firmly onto both of them. Hikaru gazed at her in wonder, and saw that tears were hanging over the tip of her eyelashes. Even as he watched, a tear seemed to fall and it landed on his dry lips. He wanted to, but he didn't dare let his tongue dart out to lick the tear. He didn't wish to spoil this moment.

This was the closest Haruhi had ever been to either of them. Even closer than the time the two of them were snogging...and he wasn't talking about the literal sense of "closeness".

"Thank you, both of you," she whispered softly.

And then she left, just like that. Hikaru and Kaoru stood on the front steps, both looking rather forlorn. Their expressions were solemn, and in Kaoru's case, tear-stained, as they watched the limo drive off and pull out through the gate. They continued to watch it until it was no more, and then they both released a breath they didn't realize they've been holding.

Hikaru felt his brother's hand squeezing his, and he whispered, "She didn't choose."

Of course, Hikaru already knew that. Haruhi had left without choosing either of them.

--

Sinking back into her normal life had been difficult at first. For one thing, she was now back to sleeping on a futon rather than a queen-sized, soft bed. She was back to having "commoner" food as the twins' called it, and she was back to the confines of a small studio apartment which she shared with her dad. She was also back to her job at the department store. Her dad didn't see why it was necessary to work when she has her scholarship, but she wanted to help with the household expenses.

It would've made more sense if she'd stayed with the twins and sent the money she earned from her job to her dad, but she couldn't bear to stay with them any longer.

There was the other different thing in her life. Now, there were no twins. A week after she'd left the Hitachiin mansion, she still hadn't quite gotten used to the fact that the twins were no longer living with her in the same house. Sure, they had her on the phone each day for hours at times, but it wasn't the same. When she was still in the mansion, she was the one who woke them up, she was the one who laid their clothes on their beds for them to wear and she was the one who waved at them as their car left the driveway.

When they came back, she was the one on the receiving end of their hugs and their constant whining about how much they'd missed her while on campus. She had lunch with them, and then sat huddled together with them in the library while they finished their homework. Then they hung out, watching TV, talking, playing...or had another Let's-Play-Pervs! Session, in which Haruhi refused to take part of.

They had become part of her everyday life, and even though she hated to admit it, she missed the twins terribly. A huge part of her wanted to go back and live with them for the rest of her life, but a little voice in the back of her head told her that she was drifting away from reality, and that there was really no way she could continue to live with them. After all, on what premises was she staying with them? Work? She hardly worked for them. They were more like roomies in a huge house...and she was the sole freeloader.

Sighing, she hitched her bag properly over her shoulder as she continued on her way home. She had just finished her daily shift, and was heading back to make dinner for her and her father, who should be arriving in an hour or so. As she neared the apartment complex where she lived, she saw a moving lorry parked outside. On closer inspection, she saw that the henchmen were carrying the stuff to the apartment next door.

Haruhi frowned. She hadn't been aware that they were going to have new neighbors. It wasn't of importance to her, anyway; she rarely ever interacted with her neighbors. The only person she talked to was the landlady, and that was only when she had to pay the rent. Side-stepping around a henchman carrying a small fridge, she climbed the stairs up to her home. She unlocked the door and stepped inside.

Slipping off her shoes and letting her bag drop to the floor, she padded into the kitchen and started pulling pots and pans out of overhead cupboards. She was planning on making stir-fry for dinner tonight, with rice at the side. And some miso soup, too. She hummed to herself as she worked, trying hard to ignore the quietness of the place. Her stay in the mansion had been anything but quiet, so this was something else that she was trying to get accustomed to now that she was back to her ordinary life.

The silence was pressing down on her, and she felt something sting her eyes. She breathed in sharply. She was not going to cry. She was not going to cry. Haruhi does not cry. She's a big girl, she does not cry over trivial things like moving out and...and...

Haruhi hiccupped. She felt an alien wetness sliding down her cheeks. She was...crying? She crouched down and dug her eyes into her knee caps, trying to stop her tears but it only served to make her eyes burn even more. She would've probably allowed herself to cry freely if it weren't for the doorbell. Its shrill ringing made her head jerk up and she looked around guiltily, as if she'd been caught doing something bad.

She hastily wiped her eyes on her sleeves and hurried to answer the door. She didn't pause to inquire who it was before pulling it open. "Hello, how may I...?"

Haruhi froze in her tracks. Her eyes widened in shock and her mouth hung open ever so slightly. A few moments passed and she became aware that she was gaping, so she clamped her mouth shut and lowered her gaze a little.

It was Kaoru.

Kaoru was standing there, smiling. He appeared to study her for a moment, before holding out his hand. "Hello, my name is Kaoru Hitachiin," he said pleasantly. Haruhi stared at him again, dumbfounded. "I'm your new neighbor, and I thought I'd stop by and introduce myself."

_Huh? What did he just say? _

She blinked. "You're my what?" she said stupidly.

His hand was still hanging out, but she didn't shake it. She wasn't sure if it were real to begin with.

Kaoru continued to smile. "Your new neighbor. I just moved here," he explained. "You won't believe how glad I am to find such an apartment that is both close to my university and my work place."

_EH? University? Work place? _

"E-excuse me?" she stammered.

"I work for the little pizzeria down the street. I'm the delivery boy," he said, grinning sheepishly. "And I study at the community college that's two blocks away from here. It's really so convenient having them both so close. This way I can get a few extra minutes of sleep in the morning."

Haruhi scrutinized him. Was he lying? No, Kaoru didn't look like he was lying. So what did this mean? Did he give up his posh, luxurious life and come to live in the commoner side of town? Did he actually quit Ouran and was now studying at a public college? And he was working, too? She gazed openly at him, and he just smiled earnestly back at her.

She then gingerly placed her hand in his, squeezing it gently as she shook it. He started to pull away, but she held on. She held on, and she pulled him down towards her, gently pressing her lips against his. Kaoru didn't respond at first, but soon his free hand were sliding around her waist, pulling her tightly against him, deepening their kiss. Haruhi released his other hand and he used it to rake his fingers through her hair.

Haruhi snaked her hands behind his neck, pulling him down even more. She kissed him with such intensity you'd think her life depended on it. As Kaoru whispered, "I love you," through their kiss, her mind automatically went back to what Tamaki had told her before.

_"It's not you who has to choose. It's them. If they love you, they'll be willing to give up anything for you. When they do that, you'll know...you'll know it's the right choice. You don't have to do anything."_

_"But what if neither of them does anything?" _

_"You'll always have me!"_

_"Oh, whatever." _

Kaoru had chosen her. He'd chosen her over Hikaru, and over his perfect life at the mansion. He'd given up everything for her. When he pulled back to have a proper look at her face, she saw that his face was glowing with delight. His eyes were bright and misty, and his lips were stretched into a huge grin. She smiled happily back at him.

"Do you greet all your neighbors this way?" he teased her.

She hugged him. "I don't get helpers on a silver plate everyday," she retorted. "I found out I ran out of salt, so you're here just in time. You wouldn't mind running along and getting me some from the supermarket, do you?"

"Haruhi!" he whined.

"I'm kidding," she said. She smiled warmly. "I'm not fond of my neighbors, but with you I can make an exception."

"So...you're _fond _of me?"

"No, silly, I love you."

--

A small smile touched Hikaru's lips as he saw the door close behind his brother and Haruhi. He was sitting in the passenger seat of the lorry that had brought Kaoru's things over, watching things unfold between the pair. He had been quite shocked when Kaoru had announced that morning that he was moving out of the house so he could be near Haruhi, he had fought against it, he had thrashed the room, yelling that he couldn't bear it, that he wouldn't allow it.

He was starting to tear one cushion apart when it suddenly dawned on him. He quieted down, and looked up at his brother, who was still sitting on the bed, looking at him with an expression of sadness mingled with patience. Hikaru understood it all.

Kaoru was the one choosing Haruhi. He wasn't going to sit around and wait like Hikaru had intended to do, he was actually choosing her over everything else. It occurred to him that maybe that was what Haruhi wanted. She wanted to see who would choose her, and Kaoru did.

He realized he would never be actually ready to do what Kaoru wanted to do. He was just weak like that. It didn't seem like he wanted Haruhi as badly as Kaoru did.

Or rather...it was the obvious truth that it was Kaoru who Haruhi deserved, and not him. She deserved someone who'd be willing to do anything for her, and that someone was Kaoru. It wasn't him - he was just not mature enough for her. He was still selfish.

He sensed that he was becoming misty-eyed and quickly looked away from the building. He kept his eyes stoically up ahead. "Drive me back home," he said firmly.

_I just want you to be happy, Kaoru. _

--

**A/N: Oh, God...I'm done! This story is actually finished! Woohoo! And right before my birthday, too; it would've been depressing if a second birthday had passed on this! XD So, how was it? Too cliché? Too sweet? Too fluffy? Whatever it is, I do hope you've liked this! HUGE thanks to all who stuck with me for all the time I've been writing this; you were the motivation force that kept me going! Arigatou-gozaimasu!!**

**Ja ne!!**

_- S. N. B. _


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